Waiting

This past Monday, September 18, I was gearing up to get on a taxi-brousse bright and early the next day. We had our last day of language class, learned a little bit about the dialects in our placement areas, and I learned that I am going to have a LOT of adjusting to do! We said our final goodbyes to our teachers and took lots of pictures. I packed one of my suitcases to the brim and was scheduling last minute FaceTimes with family and friends.

So, on that Monday, when Pastor Kirsten said she had some news to share, I figured it would be about the next day’s travel, or our plans for the rest of our time in Antsirabe. Instead, we absorbed the shock that we would not be leaving on Tuesday after all.

Earlier that day, in a commune called Vohiposa, a truck crossed a bridge. But this wasn’t just any old location, any old truck, any old bridge.  Vohiposa is located south of Antsirabe and about 82 kilometers north of Fianarantsoa. The bridge crossed a body of water along RN7, which is the major road south, and the truck was too heavy. As a result, the bridge collapsed.

Thankfully, no one was killed in the bridge collapse; however, the RN7 is the route that supplies most of the southern part of the island. Specifically, people were concerned with how fuel would reach the lower half. While the bridge collapse was an inconvenience for our group, it strained the livelihood of thousands of Malagasy people.

RN7 was the route I, and 4 other YAGMs, were supposed to take to begin our travels on Tuesday. After leaving Antsirabe, Fianarantsoa was our first stop. We learned that community members in Vohiposa rallied immediately after the collapse and forged a deviation through the water, so we thought we might only be delayed a day. Our new plan was to leave Wednesday!

As Tuesday came to a close, one of Kirsten’s friends and drivers, Hasina, brought us the news that no taxi-brousses were running along the RN7 yet. In addition, traffic was backed up 10 kilometers on either side of the bridge! The deviation through the water was working, but only for sturdy 4x4 vehicles. Hasina had cars that could get us to our placement, but Kirsten did not want to put us somewhere that would be difficult for us to get out of.

Saying a tearful, excited goodbye to Megan.

Today, seven of us are still at Lovasoa. During this week, we took more Malagasy classes in the mornings and helped with English classes in the afternoons. On Wednesday, we sent Megan on a taxi-brousse north to her placement in Antananarivo. Quinn and Amy took off for Fort Dauphin early this morning. It’s been hard to say goodbye to members of my YAGM community with whom I have grown so close over the past three weeks. It’s even harder that all of us are not experiencing this huge transition together.

I ask for prayers for all those who are waiting. For the Malagasy people in the south, waiting for a reliable route and adequate provisions. For the members of my cohort who are arriving to their placements, waiting to see what their jobs, host families, and lives will be like for the next year. For the members of my YAGM family who are still in the United States, waiting on the status of their visas. And for those of us here in Antsirabe, waiting for the next steps in our journey to begin.

To learn more about the bridge collapse, visit:

http://www.midi-madagasikara.mg/faits-divers/2017/09/18/rn7-le-pont-dankibo-vohiposa-coupe/ (the picture above is from this article)

http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/Chaos-sur-la-RN7-le-salut-vient-de,23286.html
(Both of the articles are in French, but Google Translate will give a good gist!)

The collapsed Bailey Bridge.