Miscellaneous

From Acropora Corals to Zebu Markets: Allen Serves as Teacher and Student in Africa

Nocturnal clouds are swept off the ancient slopes of an extinct volcano by a slight breeze. Morning is fully begun before the sun finally shows above the peaks, and another day of southern heat begins. The Piton de la Fournaise bubbles on, 30 miles away, but there are no indications that the earth is actively growing as swimmers finish their morning exercise, fishermen pull in a hopeful catch, and a breakfast, which definitely includes bananas, is prepared. For Rachel Allen ’04, it was another beautiful day on La Réunion.

Employed by the French government to teach conversational English at a middle school and high school in the town of Trois-Bassins, Rachel signed on for the seven-month stint after having graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College last year.

Excited to have the chance to explore a part of the world she didn’t know existed, an island located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, and about 200 kilometers (120 mi) south west of Mauritius, the nearest island, Rachel was ready for adventure.

“It was a small island, and took a full day trip to go around it. In the beginning, I met people, ate different foods, and tried to get some sports in every day, though the only one possible to do between 8 am and 5 pm was swim, otherwise it was too hot. But luckily, the beach was a five-minute stroll from my apartment, and the water was warmer than the water I used for my showers.”

As Rachel was one of the few Americans on the island, she became an acknowledged expert on the United States and the presidential election. In fact, she was even interviewed in French by the local newspaper. When asked how important she felt the election was to the rest of the world, Rachel replied, “Si on change le président, on change le monde.”

The actual teaching didn’t take up a lot of her time, just 12 hours a week normally, but especially when the high school students were on strike fighting French reform. “As I was required to be at school anyway, I took advantage of the time to talk with the students about their activism – I can’t imagine striking while in high school – go to their organizational meetings, and write a letter to the editor which was actually published.”

Rachel found other ways to keep busy as she continued to explore her new world. Having been a Summer Student Fellow at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution the previous year, she was delighted to join a local chapter of Reef Check, an international group that monitors the health of reefs.

“The site we looked at was mostly made up of acropora corals, which are algae-covered near their bases, and white or dead due to coral bleaching, on the top. In their healthy state, these corals serve as the breeding ground for the calyxes of green algae. About 80% of the upper parts had recently died due to the bleaching phenomenon, often caused by higher than normal sea temperatures, that had been touching the island’s reef since the beginning of the year.”

Because of the difficult living circumstances on the island, and sometimes outrageous work hours, the teaching assistants are compensated with extra vacation, five weeks of “austral summer,” in addition to spring break. Rachel was able to spend four weeks in Madagascar, the true highlight of her seven-month experience. For a slideshow of her journey, click here.

She visited the island with Martha, an Austrian teaching assistant. The first week and a half they helped a cardiologist who had created an organization that gives free cardiological exams and medications to any Malagasy. Rachel and Martha stayed with the French volunteer team and helped to take initial information from the patients, like weight, size, and blood pressure.

“I ended up giving the alimentary interviews with the translator. I not only learned how to say ‘rice,’ ‘fish,’ ‘meat,’ and ‘salt’ in Malagasy, but also got a comprehensive feel for what the Malagasy eat. Anyone who doesn’t have to eat rice three times a day is extremely wealthy, and meat more than once a week is the exception.”

Rachel stayed in Malagasy hotels, ate at local food stands, visited parks, rode crammed between the Malagasy in taxi-brousses, and did as much as possible as the locals – except drink the water.

“Madagascar was stunning. The variety of landscapes, wildlife, and flora were incredible. We saw loads of lemurs and mind-boggling baobabs, including some that were more than 1,000 years old. We hiked from inside the Ranomafana national park, an actual tropical rain forest, to a nearby village and passed the very visible boundary. The picturesque rice paddies come at the expense of a dense and rich ecosystem, and walking from the moist shade into the dry heat, you realize how much complexity and time is lost with a harvested rain forest.”

Rachel and Martha managed not to get sick, until the second to last day of their vacation. They had booked a 24-hour taxi-brousse ride back to Antananarivo, and Rachel ended up losing all the contents of her stomach down to the roadside bat! “Perhaps you shouldn’t try roadside grilled bat,” she admonished, but said her favorite treat was fried bananas and the abundant fresh fruit juice.

During their trip, they visited Fianarantsoa, and Ranohira, where Rachel received a “love” offer. They visited Mangily and the ox-like zebu market in Ambalavao, and were drenched in Tulear with the passing of a cyclone. They climbed one of the highest peaks of Madagascar and were delighted to teach the Kookaburra song to a group of children in Namoly.

“On January 1, there were no restaurants open, so we bought biscuits and juice at the epicerie. But the neighbor of the owner offered us omelets. When we realized he was serious, we accepted. We were regaled with a full-fledged Malagasy cooking experience and the most delicious omelets ever.”

“We ate food in shacks, hiked in tropical rain forests and granite plateaus, learned to count to 10 in Malagasy and how to say thank you, and discovered adventures everywhere.”

Now back in the United States, Rachel will never forget her experiences on La Réunion. “It was wonderful and will be full of lessons for me for a long time.”