The degal lands along the shore, where we will begin our walk to the school.

Our next stop was a remote neighborhood of Mahavelona. We were to meet with Jeannette Noro, the headmistress of a school that CARE rebuilt after Cyclone Bonita. The journey to her school was like no other. Even the Toyota could only take us so far. We had to go by degal, a hallowed-out palm tree carved into a canoe, for the last leg of the trip. It was beautiful crossing a glass-like river with the orange glow of the sunset in the distance.

Many people from the village joined us on our walk to the school.

Once we arrived in the village, we had to hike a long way until we reached the school. As we walked past each thatched-roofed home, mothers, fathers and older children joined us on our march toward the school. When we arrived, it seemed as if the whole village was there.

One of the village elders brought a students' desks outside so I could interview Noro in the cool night air. The village had no electricity, so we talked by candlelight. When we were finished, one of the village elders thanked me for visiting them after dark, since many of them usually do not travel at night because it is considered dangerous.

Afterward, we began our long walk back to the shore for the return journey by degal. Young men appeared with flashlights to guide our way back through the village. It was an honor to be escorted by these young men, since they were using on of their most prized possessions on my behalf: a flashlight and the batteries that operate it.

As I floated back through the darkness, I reflected on the people I met during my trip to Madagascar. I wondered how I would survive after a cyclone destroyed my home and washed away all that was dear to me. My thoughts then drifted back to Antananarivo and the people I met there. I remembered the faces of women who worked all day to put only a bowl of rice on their family's dinner table. I then thought of life in the United States with its stocked grocery stores, warm houses with running water, good jobs and a strong economy. All those little things I took for granted at home, I began to appreciate even more.

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