The president's church

[Sunday] An hour after leaving the hotel, we arrive at the red-brick church building atop a mountain offering spectacular views of the countryside. The narrow road up the mountain has new blacktop, hairpin turns and no guardrails for our going-too-fast-for-comfort motorcade. The quaint house of worship is known as “the president’s church” in part because nestled around it are the tall, humble houses composing a tiny village where Ravalomanana was born and still considers home even though he lives in a presidential palace. In fact, he is building a massive house at the mountain’s peak where he plans to live one day. The church is charming – old-world in architecture, a modern sound system inside, and two massive wooden doors opened to the vista below. About 200 people are present and clearly waiting our arrival. They look curiously at the American visitors. Adults nod at us, and shy children wave small fingers and smile when we wave at them first. The service is conducted in Malagasy, and contains hymns with which we are familiar (Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah, Master the Tempest is Raging and Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy). Students sitting next to the group quietly interpret the prayers and readings and sermon for several of us. The minister speaks passionately about the importance of serving others, linking passages read earlier from Luke 22 (Who is greatest in the kingdom, one who sits at table or one who serves?) and Acts 7.

MadaNASCAR

[Sunday morning] While a few from our group attended local congregations with Malagasy friends and family, the rest of us are invited to attend Ravalomanana’s congregation, the Church of Jesus Christ of Madagascar. We are picked up at 8:45 a.m. for a police motorcycle-led escort – lights flashing and siren blaring. The motorcade includes 8 cars of government officials and two buses for our group and families of 13 of the 24 students still in town. We race along the same crowded streets where we dodged traffic at a much slower pace during the week, only this time at more than 100 kph (kilometers per hour), drawing audible gasps from the group as we take curves and corners like a NASCAR Chevy, only with seating for two dozen dressed in church clothes. Other foot and vehicle traffic pull to the side of the road, except for a couple of bicylists who draw a stern finger-shaking from the motorcade leader before speeding off again. Our friendly and knowledgeable tour guide for the week, Mamy Randriamanantena (pictured here; you can hire him for your next trip to Madagascar by emailing him mamyguide@voidumonde.com), forgoes his normal spot standing in the stairwell for a safer sitting position, his eyes as big around as sausages on the Carlton buffet as we zoom along. Was this the first time he’s been in a vehicle going this fast, he is asked. “No, the second,” he replies, holding up 2 fingers. He says the first time also had to do with a vehicle clipping along on presidential business. Our motorcade is well-planned; there is a soldier, rifle drawn, standing at each intersection of street and highway to block oncoming traffic. There is no mistaking in Madagascar when its president or his proxy are on the road.

Lemur of the Day: Sunday

More Commencement images

The sound of music

[Saturday night] From the time Dr. Tyson heard them singing casually when he first met them four years ago, the Malagasy students have used their remarkable a cappella singing talent to entertain audiences in places across the nation. The tight melodies of their native folk songs and familiar Christian hymns have melted hearts and made friends, and made them feel more quickly at home on ACU's campus as well. The students sing heartily while putting on graduation robes for the ceremony, and later, perform 2 songs during it. Turns out it is not a peculiar coincidence that they vocalize so well. People in Madagascar simply love to sing. The voices echoing in the room this afternoon while their national anthem is played sounds more like a 625-member glee club, not a disparate group of people who happened to show up for a private event in a public space. Families and friends visit for more than 2 hours in a catered reception afterward, shooting photos of each other and at times, singing joyously with each other, too.

Program participants

[Saturday afternoon] The usual: Drs. Money and VanRheenen have major speaking roles, plus special messages from Drs. Tyson and Ravalomanana. Jack Rich provides a scripture reading. Drs. Strader and McCaleb lead prayers. Virginia Chambers represents the Board of Trustees by handing a diploma to each graduate as they cross the stage. Malagasy students with program roles include Aldo Raeliarijaona (leads "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "The Lord Bless You and Keep You", and co-leads "O Dear Christian College"), Rotsy Rasamimanana and Laza Razafimanjato (speakers), and Adolha Vonialitahina (co-leads "O Dear Christian College"). All of the 24 students perform two a cappella numbers together: "Andriamanitra Fitiavana" and "The Greatest Command."

A hot ticket

[Saturday afternoon] The event is scheduled to start at 3 p.m., but more than half of the 425 chairs are filled at 2 p.m. by family and friends dressed in their finest. I lost count of the photographers but try to I.D. the ones representing the media for follow-up later. Half of the back wall is occupied by TV cameras. Ravalomanana’s security people specify how close photographers and videographers can get to the stage, reminding us of the presence of a head of state. Similar but far more stringent rules were set back in Abilene by U.S. Secret Service assigned to protect Ravalomanana when he attended ACU’s May Commencement. Hotel staff bring more chairs from other rooms, but run out of space. It’s standing-room-only along the venue’s perimeter. The final attendance is determined to be 625.

Arriving in style

[Saturday afternoon] Ravalomanana arrives in a motorcade led by nine motorcyclists and including nearly 10 cars to transport him and his family and Cabinet members. Traffic is stopped in front of the hotel and a red carpet unrolled down the front steps. Inside, at the top of the circular staircase leading to the second floor, a dapper color guard of 9 soldiers lines Ravalomanana’s path to his changing room, sabers raised above as he walks in. Media gathers outside, chronicling his meeting ACU’s president and first lady.

The big day begins

[Saturday morning] I eat my first food (other than a couple Ritz crackers) since dinner Wednesday night. There are myriad details to see to Saturday. ACU wants this event to feel the same as it does back in Moody Coliseum. Academic regalia including gowns and hoods, printed programs (also translated into Malagasy for our guests), a DVD of music including “Crown Imperial” – all have been transported to Madagascar in shipments or in the suitcases of travelers. Graduates, escorts (a family member or friend) and program participants have a walk-through rehearsal in the morning. Each graduate receives a gift – a customized hard-back photo album/book of photographs over the past 4 years prepared by Pam Hadfield (my wife and Dr. Tyson’s assistant). It is a big hit, and provides parents a glimpse into the students’ lives back in Abilene. Many students tell me to tell Pam “thank you” and “we really wish you were here.” I concur.

Lemur of the Day: Saturday

[Saturday] With all the family and friends gathering in Antananarivo for Commencement, I thought this clan of ring-tailers was an appropriate choice for what promises to be a big family reunion.

How do you do?

[Friday night] The students and their families requested an opportunity to meet and thank ACU administrators, and Friday night is the best time for most of them since they will be traveling from all 22 of Madagascar’s regions for Saturday’s event. The students wanted a potluck dinner like they have come to know it in Abilene, but after a discussion about what “potluck” might translate to in Malagasy, a sandwich reception is organized in the Carlton’s veranda dining room. This is the first time for most of the families to meet some of the people who have been surrogate parents and mentors to their children the past 4 years. It is a loud and happy evening. It’s hard to believe the week is almost over. Here are some of the photos I gathered at the reception, largely of family groups with their student. Not every student was able to attend the reception tonight. I'll need help with the captions, so send a comment along if you want to assist.

Lemur of the Day: Friday

Internet woes cause me to give up trying to identify the species of these cute little guys, although I had good intentions of doing so. I you want to give it a shot, send a comment. I'm all ears (and they're all tails), although this one is a baby of one flavor or another, and may be hard to I.D.

Commencement preparations begin

[Friday] In the afternoon, hotel employees and local vendors begin setting up the Carlton’s main room on the second floor for Commencement. Delicie (pictured here checking diplomas) coordinates the details: setting up chairs and staging, construction of a 30’ x 10’ frame on which to stretch a mural/backdrop for the stage (great graphics work by ACU senior designer Greg Golden), and technology to film and transmit the ceremony back to ACU (pictured here) so the event can be streamed to the university’s Web site. The room is pretty much set up, but a visit from Ravalomanana’s staff brings a request that it be re-oriented for security purposes. So things change as directed. About 400 people have been invited, including the president’s Cabinet and numerous local and national media.

Our humble office

[Friday] Lest you think we are broadcasting from a posh studio on the 10th floor of the tallest building in Antananarivo, well, we are. But as you can see, our work station is a tad on the small side. OK, it's a 24" diameter round table. But the double beds are nearby and real comfy. Ryan is shooting digital HD footage (no tape!), but the download time to his laptop for editing can take a while when we return from a day's work. He also has a few terabytes of space on an external harddrive with him for video storage. My photos (I am not a professional photographer, but know some people who are) are downloaded to the laptop from the Tyson's digital camera (thanks for sharing!). When Ryan is busy, I hand-write blog entries on a legal pad, and type them into a text file when he takes a break. When the Internet will allow me, I make the final text edits, embed photos I shoot and YouTube video Ryan creates, and publish to blogspot.com. We buy WiFi access cards from the hotel front desk in 5-hour allotments; we're on our 7th or 8th one now. This all makes for some late nights and early mornings, but it's fun and we enjoy your comments about the blog entries, so keep those cards and letters coming. Unfortunately, most of the good folks on our trip don't have a laptop or Internet access, so they will have to read about their trip when they get back to the states. Some do get cell phone calls from friends and family back home who describe to them what they're reading.

On the rebound

[Friday morning] I feel among the living, finally, but make no fast moves and also decline breakfast. We have a meeting at MBS, the TV station owned by President Ravalomanana, and have been told to expect more filmed interviews for Drs. Money, Tyson and McCaleb. We drive about 15 minutes to their facility, which is at the top of a steep road, behind a security gate and on a hill overlooking the River Ikopa where people are washing clothes and making bricks. We are greeted by station manager Rolland Aimé Andriamahenina, who takes us to the office of MBS director general Haja Fredy Andriamiadanarivo for a meeting interpreted by François Maka, technical advisor to the Minister of Education.

MBS is a group of businesses including a TV station (also called MBS), two radio stations and two newspapers. Andriamiadanarivo says their motto is to transmit information and educate people, and includes Christian education. “We want to be a model to the Malagasy regarding how to act, to communicate and to collaborate,” he says. “We are aware Malagasy don’t have enough information about the rest of the world, and we try to fill that need.” The visit provides fascinating background to Ravalomanana’s efforts to explain and implement the strategic Madagascar Action Plan to help accelerate the advancement of his nation.

MBS studios sport excellent state-of-the-art equipment, with considerably more staff than the state-run station we visited earlier. The three ACU administrators are interviewed in the main studio. Questions ranged from how the ACU-Madagascar program started, what the word “Christian” implies in ACU’s name, how students performed in their studies, whether more students would be sent to Abilene, and the group’s impressions of its Madagascar visit.

The studio is quite warm and that, combined with the stop-and-go ride back to the hotel along Antananarivo’s congested city streets, has my head spinning and stomach flip-flopping again. I return to the room for a few hours while the group excursion heads out for more shopping.

Carlton food critic, moi

[Thursday] While I want no part of it at the moment, here are my reflections on the Hotel Carlton food in its two restaurants:

Fantastique: Fresh-pureed pineapple juice, stir-fried vegetables (cooked “Chinese way” is the menu description), chocolate desserts of all kinds, fresh (but rock-hard) rolls and butter, hot Malagasy tea, scrambled fresh eggs (the smiling lady who makes them in a wok says, "Oui Monsieur, cooked well" every time she sees me)

Maybemanana: Coffee, so strong it’s served in half-size cups

Nowaymanana: Duck paté, liver paté, zebu that is not well done, warm/room-temperature milk on cereal