Here’s a tip if you make a mission trip to Madagascar: if you approach the
end of your trip thinking that your luggage will comfortably accommodate your
stuff, and the souvenirs you have purchased, then you are wrong. You have
failed to take account of the wonderful generosity of the Malagasy people.
We have been showered with farewell gifts. At the conclusion of Sue’s
workshops, one of the ladies presented Sue, myself, and Jackie Lowe, with
beautiful bead necklaces. Sue was a given a lamba (large cloth) and a
wall-hanging of baobabs. On our final morning in Toliara, our translator, Zafy,
brought his wife and Tantely and son Christophère to say farewell, and brought
us (and Matthew) foot-high wooden statuettes. They must have spent several days’ income on
them.
To be sure, we have given of ourselves on our trips, but the generosity
goes in both directions.
Simon
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