Lena Skandera, originally from Raglan and the recipient of a Roberston Scholarship for 2006 to study at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, reports on her experiences both there, and in Maventibao, Madagascar, for an "exploration summer".
After studying in Switzerland in fall 2007, I was pleased to complete my sophomore year in North Carolina, albeit at Duke University instead of my home campus. Over the course of the semester I became increasingly impressed by the academic intensity of my peers, the small class sizes, and the pervasiveness of international and out-of-state culture, which distinguish Duke from UNC.
I simultaneously missed the extra-curricular and social vibrancy of UNC, and made regular visits to Chapel Hill in spite of carrying a full course-load at Duke. The semester impressed upon me how truly fortunate Robertson Scholars are in having access to two unique campuses in such close proximity to one another.
My Robertson Exploration Summer consisted of living with a remote cluster of sapphire miners in the mountainous region of Maventibao, Madagascar. Throughout the spring semester I was heavily involved with Maventy Health International (MHI); a newly-established, New York-based non-profit organization which seeks to build a sustainable healthcare model for rural Madagascar through the provision of human and medical resources to a small Maventibao "clinic". My initial responsibility of filing a USAID grant application on behalf of MHI lead to a deeper attempt to define the organization’s strategic plan, leadership and funding structure and philosophy; a process in which the Director and I often found ourselves at ideological and methodological odds. I grew particularly concerned about MHI’s significant lack of knowledge about local Malagasy customs, diet, economy, social structure, and natural environment, which seemed to reduce the accuracy of its healthcare targets and have a holistically disempowering effect on the local people. There was an opportunity for me to probe into the mindset and lifestyle of this northern Malagasy tribe, which would have the additional benefit of giving me a taste for journalism (a possible career option), and help me to strengthen certain personal character traits.
The work I conducted as an interviewer, French teacher, and nurse of sexually-transmitted diseases (treated with medical supplies I had brought with me from Duke Hospital), was gradually supplemented and perhaps even eclipsed by my inauguration into the sapphire mining lifestyle. It quickly became apparent to me that the elevated volunteer status of the vazaha (white man) in Maventibao both physically and cognitively isolates him from the local inhabitants, to their great resentment. This aggravated my ethics, my interest in providing a genuine service, and my desire to learn. Moreover, while the full potential of the volunteer role was called into question, the sapphire trade revealed itself as the key to understanding and entering into the community.
My new focus on the sapphire trade was academically fascinating because of its inherent political complexities, and it planted the seed for a potential future honours thesis in the illicit international gemstone market. It also explained the questions I wanted answered for MHI. Much more importantly, the involvement enabled me to dilute cultural antagonisms and to honour my Malagasy companions in a way that I could not achieve from behind a teacher’s desk or a nurse’s table. Only this morning did I receive an email from the village chief, telling me that every vazaha who passes through Maventibao is now called Lena, the people are still talking about how badly I light fires, and every day a different person asks him when I will be coming home. It is the bond I feel with a people so thoroughly removed from my own context that made my Exploration Summer exceptional.
I am happy to now spend time with my family and to reflect upon Madagascar. I look forward to reporting on my studies in the Amazon Basin in December.
