kids of andava
post by scott
The kids of Andavadoaka really, really love having their photo taken. They are such adorable kids that whenever we walked along the beach to get to the shop or the local pub we would end up spending half an hour planted on the sand snapping away at swarms of kids who would pose dramatically and then giggle hysterically upon seeing themselves on the screen. It was heaps of fun.
Also they have had a serious abundance of young children at the moment, as contraception has only just become available in the past few years. Something like 60% of the population are under 15 years old, and it is very obvious when walking around the village because there are throngs of young whippersnappers everywhere.
So here's a few of the cute faces that helped to make our stay so enjoyable :)
Also they have had a serious abundance of young children at the moment, as contraception has only just become available in the past few years. Something like 60% of the population are under 15 years old, and it is very obvious when walking around the village because there are throngs of young whippersnappers everywhere.
So here's a few of the cute faces that helped to make our stay so enjoyable :)
Popular toys in Andavadoaka include the tied together bundle of cloth (soccer ball), the classic stick and wheel (surprisingly difficult to master), and on a windy day they all get out their little model pirogues which gradually increase in size until the child is old enough to sail a real one!
Shannon, a roughneck from Perth, was undoubtedly king of the kids. For starters he is a huge man, and could pick a kid up in each hand and bob them up and down like dumbells. Then he would swing them around like a crazy carousel while their mothers would look on amazed. Children would gather around and argue over who is next on the ride. Shannon also used one of our inflatable boat rollers to teach them how to tackle and box!
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Classic move, the old pull-away - funny in Australia, funny in Madagascar.
Every week all the kids would come into our ‘classroom’ building to watch a video, usually something educational and fun. This particular week it was a David Attenborough video about the wildlife of Madagascar, dubbed into Malagasay. We watched lemurs, chameleons and sifakas but the showstoppers were the bullfrogs – they had filmed a large congregation of frisky frogs all desperately trying to mate with each other. Every time a frog jumped onto a female the classroom would erupt with laughter.