Exit Blog from MBP Volunteer, Jannet

Going to Madagascar I was ready for an adventure, but not quite sure what kind of journey I was embarking on. I knew I loved the natural world, but would diving into the rainforest for 6 months make me do a complete 360 and end up absolutely hating my career path? Well nonetheless, there was only one way to find out and boy did I find out more about myself than I expected.

After spending nearly my entire life in one of the largest cities in the world, I was more than happy to switch to a quieter lifestyle. When then other volunteers and I first arrived into Kianjavato, we were immediately the talk of the town and it seemed like they had been anticipating our arrival for quite some time. Everyone appeared to know us and were throwing out “akory a bae” (how are you) greetings left and right as we passed by, on the first of many walks to Sunday market. Like I said I was from a big city where it’s strange to converse with someone you barely knew, so the fact that everyone was so welcoming was both refreshing and uncomfortable. It took a while to adopt the village courtesies, but by the end there wasn’t a single person I passed without greeting! And I loved it. Now that I’m back in the city, akory a bae’s are hard to come by. So don’t take them for granted.

Going to Madagascar I was ready for an adventure, but not quite sure what kind of journey Iwas embarking on. I knew I loved the natural world, but would diving into the rainforest for 6 months make me do a complete 360 and end up absolutely hating my career path? Well nonetheless, there was only one way to find out and boy did I find out more about myself than I expected.

After spending nearly my entire life in one of the largest cities in the world, I was more than happy to switch to a quieter lifestyle. When then other volunteers and I first arrived into Kianjavato, we were immediately the talk of the town and it seemed like they had been anticipating our arrival for quite some time. Everyone appeared to know us and were throwing out “akory a bae” (how are you) greetings left and right as we passed by, on the first of many walks to Sunday market. Like I said I was from a big city where it’s strange to converse with someone you barely knew, so the fact that everyone was so welcoming was both refreshing and uncomfortable. It took a while to adopt the village courtesies, but by the end there wasn’t a single person I passed without greeting! And I loved it. Now that I’m back in the city, akory a bae’s are hard to come by. So don’t take them for granted.

I signed up to get behavioral monitoring experience, but I got way more than I bargained for, in a good way. There were a ton of projects going on at KAFS and all the teams were encouraging about cross-involvement. The invitation was always open whenever I was interested in going out on a follow with another team, helping with mammal trapping, or planting, as long as it didn’t affect my primary responsibilities. One of my favorite cross-involvement projects was mouse lemurs trapping. We set out with the dart team during nightfall and used eye-shine to locate the little fluff balls. The nights started at a slow pace, but as soon as the orange glow struck our pupils, we jumped into action! We scaled verticals, slid down hills, climbed trees and did whatever we could to pounce onto the critters. It definitely brought out our animalistic side. I was eager to get involved in anything

I could and lend a helping hand wherever possible and as a result got tons of experience. Through the Prolemur simus study I performed behavioral monitoring, population surveys, genetic fecal collections, tracking, anesthesia monitoring, and physiological reporting. I also served as a tourist liaison, which was kind of fun and a nice break from the daily routines. Additional experience I received was small mammal trapping, supervising darting, and protocol development. MBP welcomed any suggestions we had to improve the program and put own contributions into the project.

I adore the Prolemur simus team. Spending more than 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, really allowed you to get to know the guides and yourself. Especially those days when you were chasing the lemurs, caught in thorny vines, crawling through bamboo, and slipping along the muddy floor. Those days where you were absolutely striped to your bare wits and vulnerable. It was relieving, nerve-wrecking, exhilarating, and pure bliss all at the same time. The guides really take care of you when they could; they held branches for you, lent you a hand up slippery rocks, and helped you cross rivers. What more could you ask for? Well, sometimes after a long hard day of work, they showed up with some refreshing fruit they picked from the forest. They navigate the forest so effortlessly, but they are more than physical guides. They are extremely knowledgeable about the lemurs and the environment, even though they often downplay it. Ask the right questions, and they’ll share the secrets of the forest with you. Hopefully my time working with them helped made their jobs a bit easier and more enjoyable.

There is a strong sense of community in Kianjavato. Being surrounded by people was both stressful and comforting. Since we stuck out, the entire community watched and watched out for you. Wherever we went, we felt eyes on us, but after a while we got used to it and realized that not much happens in such a small village, so any event involving us was headline gossip. The volunteers and MBP staff made KAFS more like home. There was always something to do at KAFS, between the group workout classes, post-dinner jam session, communal movie watching, hammock tiering, cooking fananza, and game nights. The company was especially nice when you got homesick or had a rough day.

In all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at KAFSand my work with MBP. This opportunity reinforced my passion for the environment and conservation biology and continuing to pursue such a career. Sure there were difficult times, but there are difficult times in every line of work. If you enjoy this type of work and can maintain a positive attitude, there is a lot to benefit. It seems both like a very long and short time since I my arrival into Madagascar, but looking back it’s been quite the trip. I will never forget Madagascar, my precious Prolemur simus, and of course all the people I’ve meet along this epic journey. I look forward to seeing how the projects and communities are doing in the future, perhaps come 20 years from now.

It’s been real, thank you for the opportunity and I wish MBP the best of luck in its future endeavors.

Signing out,

-Jannet