Creative: Madagascar's Mhondoro

For many years i have watched over this country and watched my people go through times of victory and times of despair. My land used to be wild, wild and free. Way back before these people i have come to protect lived. I remember when the great spirit created me to watch over this small island. I was favored among the other newly made mhondoros and i was given a large and fertile island. I named my land Madagascar and i was proud to call it my own. As a Mhondoro i had many special powers. I could visit people in dreams, control the weather and the fertility of my country, shapshift into animals, and while my land was completely pure of evil i could create things into being. I created animals and islands, lush forests and tropical waterfalls, I also made the soil rich all in preparation for the people who i knew would one day come to live on my beautiful island. One of my favorite creations was the Lemur in my language it means "decorated tail" Sometimes i would transform into this little creatures and explore my island. I was very proud to have created this land. Every fifty years all the mhondoro's of the countries would come together to discuss their countries problems and successes. The Great spirit would listen in and determine how well each country was living based on its Mhondoros actions. Soon the countries decided to from an alliance we all protected our countries individually but we promised each other when the time came we would unite under the name Africa and defend everyone collectively. Soon the first people came to my island. They were good and true people. They believed in the oldways and
the formed the tribe of the Malagasy. Every year they would leave me praises. They were kind to my animals and they worked hard for their fields and their families. When the next meeting came for the mhondoros of Africa i was proud to represent my country. Your country's health represented your status. I remember the great king spirit telling us that when one country does something well it creates more good in other countries. The same is also true with evil. But though at the time my country was happy and strong i knew that the seed of evil would one day grow and we would have to be strong during this time of strife. And so the wars came. Long and foolish wars the foriegn spirts from countries not belonging to the union of Africa we had created let the evil grow. They called these fights between the countries mhondoros Wars and there were many of them. But like the Great spirit said."Good and Bad, are the pebbles we through into the pond and when they plunge into the water they create ripples that spread outward throughout the pond." These wars affected our countries and caused us poverty and and anger. Why should these warring countries affect our lands. But the great spirit told us about the pebble again and so we understood. My people became affected with the ripples of this war causing our own civil war. The leaders of my country had a petty dispute over who would have control of my capital. I was losing my shapeshifting poowers and my creation powers because my country was no longer pure it was infected with the evilness that the wars had caused. The Great spirit was very disappointed in the mhondoros he assigned us each with a challenge to overcome to prove our worth. Somalia got Unemployment, Chad got a genecide, and I was given drought. The Drought started out with our fields failing us and the water reciding in the waterholes. The sun shone brighter than everbefore! i didn't know how to escape my challenge and fix my country to stop it from staying this harsh barren land. But i know that i would try my hardest to save my country!

Culture: Malagasy Exposed!

Family is very important to the culture of Madagascar. They are a lot like the Japanese when it comes to this. The daughters must marry someone the parents want them too. Usually the families live together and our unseperable the aunts,uncles, cousins, grandparents, parents, and children all work the same farms together and when the young children grow up they usually live very close by. Respect for elders is held in high esteem in fact there is a wise proverb that shows this Malagasy proverb says "The speech is for the elder, and the burden for the younger". The Malagasy people are a very friendly and sensitive tribe they tend not to force their beliefs on anyone who does not want them. The Malagasy people are generally religious. Nearly 80 per cent are Catholics and protestants. The rest of the population believe in God the Creator called "Zanahary"
Madagascar now has a new flag which represents the the three main cultures, English, French, and Malagasy.

Here are a few sayings in the language of Malagasy
-Hello: Salama e!
- Good bye: Veloma.
- Welcome: Tonga soa.
- Excuse me: Azafady.
- Book: Boky