The Mangoro - Madagascar 2022
It is easy to connect modern Madagascar to its history. The country is an ephemeral concoction of many things, all of which appear, as an outsider, to be constantly shifting and evolving. Similarly, the island has seen Arab traders, French colonizers, Asian settlers and African immigration, despite the fact that Madagascar was one of the last places on earth to be settled by humans. The capital has an air of desperate poverty; many people live on less than a dollar a day. They move in and out of vision, selling whatever they can. The informal economy serves many more people than the established stores and restaurants, who's high prices can only be met by the Malagasy elite and us-- the visiting fahaza. Outside the cities, much of the land seems to be rejecting the best efforts of the people to create stability. The wet season obliterates many of the roads. Getting around is not easy. Madagascar is constantly near the top of the UN’s famine watch list. To say that the people are liv...