Meet little Mialy, Mia, and their father…known simply as Baba. They—along with 15 other siblings—made up my host family during a time spent in the arid region of southern Madagascar, where I was doing research on the Antandroy communities.
I often think back to this family with bittersweet fondness. When I was there, I was profoundly inspired by their love for life and their appreciation of the simple joys it brings…while endlessly cheered by their wide grins and generous laughter.
But now, when I glance at this photo, their visage seems to reveal a truth much deeper…and my heart aches a little.
Nevertheless, the sound of their laughter will remain with me forever, and I am thankful to have met them…and grateful for the lessons they taught me in treasuring the simple moments in life.
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Categories: Africa, Humanitarian Work, Photography
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Love this
I’ve been reading African history, from ancient times ’til thee 1970’s and am amazed at how little knowledge we have of the great African civilizations of the past, and how Europe has ‘broken’ them. And I feel sad.
As I approach 75 years of age, I wear two badges of honor. One commemorates my survival of two strokes and my wife’s slow descent into dementia. The other, a rebirth through blogging at http://www.LeagueOfGrey.wordpress.com where I TRY to focus on the psychosocial aspects of aging. The rewards of doing good works is invigorating, as I’m sure you know.
Thank you.
Hello Phoebe how are you doing, I’m Eric Donald i saw your write up and your post i like it a lot i would like to know more about you and i hope you don’t mind about that, well this is my email address ericdonald458@yahoo.com please contact me
I’m going to go deep here … I’m sure you appreciated the toilet once you were back in the US.