Jonoro’s vehicle!

Living  and working in a remote region like the Mikea Forest is obviously not easy – especially when you have young children. Food shortages, water shortages, devil possession ceremonies and armed thieves are only a few of the challenges Jonoro, Hanitra and their family face on a daily basis. One of the greatest problems they have faced is transportation in and out of the forest in the event of an emergency – or even to pick up supplies and funds in Toliare or visit a doctor.

The road to the forest is more of a 62km rut. The first time we traveled it together in a rented vehicle with a driver, it took us ten excruciating hours to span this short distance. Since our stay in the village would be brief, the driver simply remained and took us back out – another twelve glorious hours along the same tortuous road. A trip made even more interesting by a broken timing belt, a dead battery and consequent forced stop in a fishing village where foreign men skulk in the shadows with young boys and girls in tow.

When staying for longer periods in the village of Anjabetrongo, it is too expensive to pay for vehicle and driver rental – so the driver returns immediately to Toliare, promising to return on a given date. But in Madagascar, things happen, so you are never quite sure that the driver will come back. On one of these trips, Jonoro’s youngest child – only a baby at the time and burning with fever – needed immediate evacuation from the village for medical care. Sleeping under the stars in the cool, damp air I listened to Hanitra, on the ground next to me, comfort her baby and pray for a way out. The vehicle wasn’t due back for days.

Words fail me when I try to describe life in Anjabetrongo. For the locals who have lived there for generations, life is hard. They find the harsh desert climate and barren terrain unforgiving, and the lack of security threatening. For Jonoro and family, transplanted there to plant and oversee the church, the school and various humanitarian projects for Ancient Path, it is very rewarding, but difficult nonetheless. Bands of thieves roam the forest at this time of year, making travel in their oxcart too dangerous. And because the Jonoros are still considered outsiders who are funded by vazaha ( foreigners) they are primary targets.

So it was with great joy that Ancient Path was able to provide funds for a 4 wheel drive vehicle for our partners – thanks to the generous donations of private individuals. We also paid for Jonoro to attend driving school, which he passed quickly and easily. Now he is able to move his family safely in and out of the village – as well as transport local villagers in the event of medical emergencies.

Jonoro and Hanitra send many thanks to those who have given sacrificially to provide this vehicle for his family. The price of petrol has gone through the roof, and the rough roads create the need for frequent repairs, but we continue to gratefully take it a day at a time, trusting God for his provision.