Camila Cosse Braslavsky

One of our first s encounters with Malagasy culture was our language course. We had a crash course of Bara, which is the dialect spoken in the south, were our Field Project is. For me especially this was a very interesting experience. Malagasy is a language derivated from the immigration from South East Asia, and is therefore related, however distantly, to Sanskrit and all the indo European and indo Aryan languages that descent from it. There are different theories about language shaping the cultures and of cultures shaping the languages accordingly to their vision of the world, and the Self. Of course as in any field, especially for social sciences, there is a lot of disagreement and different theories. However, I have found in my studies that there are some correlations between the language formation process and some cultural conceptions.

For instance most of western languages are centered in the Subject as being the first and most important item of a sentence and an idea. The whole structure of the language is centered around the subject. I found, to my amazement, that, as in many Asiatic languages, this is not the case neither for Malagasy nor for Bara. The whole sentences take as starting point the verb and or the noun, and the subject only arrives at the end, except on counted exceptions. I´ve always found this very interesting. Is it possible that we think differently accordingly as to what we think is more important? Even in a sentence? Does it has anything to do at all as to how a society is shaped and evolves, the place they give to the subject, the “Self”, the “Me”?

I think that probably it does have some importance. It was very interesting for me to learn a new language were subject comes at the end. It forces you to think in a different way, put yourself aside, along with all your prejudices and pre conceptions. This is actually a very good exercise, in general, but specially for people working in an international or foreign cultures environment. The challenge to forget about you, or anyone really, and focus on the action in order to build an idea is refreshing and a very useful state of mind while working with unknown people, in an unknown atmosphere and with new, and also unknown, work ahead.

I have also been told once, don’t remember by whom, that it is said that when you learn to think in a new language, your mind changes a bit, and something shifts in yourself. While I am definitely not there yet with Bara dialect, I did notice a shift at some point during our learning course. I started the week writing all in capitals, to make sure to remember each word as written and pronounce it correctly. I just had the need to do so. After four full days of language course, eight hours a day, and full immersion, I automatically shifted to my normal writing. There was no more need to write in capitals to remember the new words and sounds, with my normal writing was enough. The words even if new, sounded familiar and comfortable to write.

I think this was definitely a first step towards a different phase. Bara was not the unknown anymore, just the unlearned. And “I” was not at the front anymore, but at the back, all the way behind the Others. Self, was already shifting places.

In Malagasy culture Taboos are very common and very important. There are many things about which they do not talk about and we are forbidden to ask or to photograph. Graves for instance are very sacred and we are to respect them. This is a very understandable taboo given that ancestral respect is paid more or less worldwide to Death. However there are many other taboos very well known in Malagasy culture, such as not crossing a river with a red shirt on, or not marrying someone of your own family. Malagasy tribes are very sensitive about their taboos and of course very secretive.

I found out that there are many taboos in western culture as well. Richness, development, and history are deeply enrooted taboos. For instance, it is still difficult to address the uncomfortable reality that a third of the world grew rich and prosper exploiting the two remaining thirds of the planet. Colonization, exploitation, slavery, economic exploitation, appropriation of natural resources by foreign entities… all kind of taboos for westerns cultures. Now however; richer cultures are concerned about worlds poverty and are active in it´s alleviation. Conversation grows uncomfortable when discussing how many richer countries arrived to their current state of livelihood.

It is a general and misguided idea that because the North was deeply responsible for much of the South´s current poor state, they are the only ones that have to come up with the solutions. One of the things that I like most about WWF, is that they break this preconception by working alongside, training and employing, local workforces. One of the most interesting philosophies that WWF applies is related to their commitment to collaborate and involve the regional, environmental and governmental agencies, building together the projects that aim to preserve the biodiversity and natural resources of our World.

Projects in the South have to be thought and prepared by the South itself. A South-South collaboration is key. A lot can be learned on social and environment conservation and management in Africa. There is a rising potential that could allow in the future a translocation of the successful stories to the other countries that may not yet have found sustainable solutions for their development and environmental issues and challenges. This will allow us, somewhere in our future, to be able to grow capable of relying on our own capacity and willingness to evolve. WWF instigates this evolution.

The first challenge is the acknowledgement from all parties involved of a simple fact: we are all equally part of the solution. I specifically respect WWF for being open minded enough as to allow and facilitate me, an Argentinian student, the opportunity to go through this program in Africa, and have the opportunity to work arm in arm with my fellow youth international volunteer team mates to build sustainable conservation strategies. For an NGO any budget decision is quite delicate, every penny counts. WWFs investment in us, or me, says a lot about their commitment to train a new generation with all the possible skills to instigate the making of a free independent, healthy, developed South of the World.

The North does not have all the answers; but it does have the capacity and responsibility to provide to the South the necessary jump start towards emancipation. From personal experience I can say that throwing money at a country does not simply work. You need guidance from international organizations who can pass their training and experience so that future generations in the South maybe independent and able to grow without North´s aid.

Projects that work the best are therefore those that bring in together international teams and national populations to create fresh local solutions to each challenge addressed.

WWF Volunteer Camila Cosse Braslavsky, Madagascar 2012

Most of my previous volunteer placements had concentrated on specific species conservation. I always felt really interested by it and my love and passion for animals had naturally driven me to those experiences and projects. My empathy and commitment to others, which I think is one of my main characteristics, not always for the best, had pushed me to the projects and programs that demanded me to take care of a specific animal. I worked with monkeys for a short time but preferred much more those projects that work with predators such as big cats or wolves. I was never that interested in the programs that work specifically on forest conservation, although I always deeply acknowledged the importance of ecosystem conservation.

So when I got the email from WWF saying I could participate in a Program in Madagascar, that was not directly involved in species conservation but more on ecosystem preservation I was very interested in getting involved. But to be honest, not nearly as passionate as if someone had proposed me to take care of a tiger. I was keen when my program started to learn a lot and educate myself in general conservation. But my heart always dreamed of big animals to care for.

However I think that shifted as soon as we traversed the first part of the program. With my fellow explorers we were on our second day of journey towards the South of the Island of “Madagasikara”, when we emerged out of a line of hills into grasslands landscape. And the sight was heartbreaking. The forest stopped abruptly, right next to the highway and then the earth was flesh red, with bits taken out of it were someone had made a huge fire. Across the hills we could see the reddish flesh color of the land that had been burned. And it truly looked like it had been skinned alive.

For the first time my compassion and empathy were aroused by something other than the pain of an animal. My heart felt for the entire land, since I could feel its suffering at the pain of having being burnt, the same suffering that I might feel if someone would burn my skin. My empathy for charismatic individual species dramatically spread to include the entire ecosystems that allow them to survive. The redness of the burned land truly felt anguishing. I don´t really know how it came to have such a big impact on me, maybe it was the skin like appearance of the grass burned. Or maybe it was the dark black carbon color of the land after the fire ate it alive. Or maybe it was the contrast of the rich and dense forest right next to the desolated and now infertile burned land. But suddenly I was much more excited to be participating in a forests preservation project and my heart started feeling for it as it would have for a big tiger. After all, it´s all part of the same circle. My understanding of the importance of ecosystem conservation was already growing with each the Explore! Program experiences.

WWF Volunteer Camila Cosse Braslavsky, Madagascar 2012

We are currently working with a team of seven field agents. Their main work is to apply sustainable projects and strategies that aim to enhance and capitalize the villagers work. This way they don´t have to burn the remaining forest in order to either get their wood, food, or land for their cattle. Forests we all need to remain alive if we want to breathe clean air.
After 4 years,  here in Ivohibe, the WWF has managed to establish about eleven small groups of communities. These communities are to be given proper instruction in agroforestry and ecological techniques to improve their lifestyle without any aggression to the environment. This also benefits the communities since it makes it possible for them not to rely on the seasons anymore, which are drastically changing due to the climate change phenomenon.

This approach implies years of work, years spent meeting the leaders of each small village to convince them that what WWF has to offer is rentable and profitable for them. This is in combination with huge awareness campaigns, negotiating and exchange strategies  that aim to bring the communities and the conservation agencies closer together.

What does all of this actually means? It means that you have a 7 people team that spend their life in a small town far away from anywhere, sometimes even far from anyone, with very little (if that!) accommodations or communication facilities. They spend their time traveling into the most remote coins of the countryside and deep inside the jungle, to talk to the poorest villagers and try to explain them why they have to adapt some of their production techniques.

Four years: just for organizing and bringing together eleven communities to the common objective of a better management of the land, for themselves but also so that our planet´s resources don’t get over exploited any more. And it is just the first step.

After, there are years and years to come in which their products need to get into the market to generate income, proper and responsible consumption habits will have to be incorporated so that the profits don´t go to waste. It’s a project that aims to have, in fifty years, communities in Madagascar living and producing sustainably and in harmony with the nature.

These projects have to be thought in a scale of fifty years, the amount of commitment that this requires from the staff is almost beyond my capacity of imagination. Fifty years! I, who am in my twenties, will be retired by then! What kind of motivation makes that a team of people dedicate their life to such goals?

I don’t know for each individual’s motivation but I can clearly see that there is a commitment that goes beyond what they may see in their lifetime. It carries intrinsically within it the faith, that we, the next generation are worth all that hard work. Their commitment has the power to open a window of opportunity for our Planet too, if they succeed we can all have a better, healthier world, environmentally and socially so. I can only be humbled by these professionals, and only hope to someday become one of them.

 

It is a saying that I heard a long time ago in a folklore song of my country. I have to disagree with whoever said it. I think that some evils last much more than thousands of years and indeed there are bodies to endure them. Most of the time, this occurs because of the inability to adapt themselves instead of remaining passively in suffering.

Across my traveling’s and specifically in this Program I have seen how difficult it is for people to adapt. Of course, we are humans, we are known to adapt the world to us, not the other way around. Problem is, we have adapted it and changed it so much that we´ve tempered the thin balance it needs to remain healthy.

Due to global warming, seasons are changing, very fast, and that has direct consequences for our lives. For some people those consequences are much more serious than for others. It is not the same for those that have a hotter summer than for those who are suddenly flooded by massive storms all year around. However we do not know how dramatic the consequences for all of us can be if we do not adapt fast.

A specific example: the communities we are now working with here in Ivohibe, have harvested their crops in the same way for decades but in the past ten years the situation has changed drastically. They cannot rely on rain anymore as they previously could; the change in the seasons has altered directly their crops production. They have to work much harder for less results and this has a very direct consequence: malnutrition. Therefore, they need to adapt fast to face this situation. But what we have seen is that they struggle a lot with the new techniques and they are reluctant to change their approach to their work.

It was with a heavy heart that I came back from my three weeks field work assignment. It was truly heartbreaking to see how much these communities suffer because of their struggle and inability to adapt. I kept thinking on how to address this and the only think I could come up with is that we need to challenge ourselves more, and collaborate with others to develop new and better strategies to help this people to live, instead of surviving, and teach them, mostly by the example, how to adapt. Unfortunately, this also means to adapt and challenge ourselves: which is already a difficult task.