As I said previously, we spent the first week of the expedition working at Akany Avoko, a children's home that specialises in the care of Malagasy children who have come across some of the worlds many hardships, such as poverty, sexual abuse, mistreatment and being falsely accused of petty crimes. For our part, we spent the week painting 6 different rooms at the home. I learnt a lot on this first week; it was a huge eye opener to be thrown into the culture of a developing country. I know that I want to volunteer in a place like Akany Avoko again; somewhere where I can really make a difference. This week has led me to consider a career in disaster medicine and has further inspired me to work for charities including Medicin Sans Frontiers and Unicef in the future.
The following three weeks of the expedition were spent travelling around the country. We went to Ranomafana National Park, Miradrivazo, Tsiribihina River, Belo, Kirindy Nature Reserve, Morondava and Andasibe National Park. At the parks we spent the time trekking, whilst spotting lemurs and other wildlife unique to Madagascar. During this part of the expedition my teamwork skills were undoubtly improved and my ability to play the role as a leader was also improved on the three days that I became team leader. I believe that this expedition has also helped me to improve upon my confidence in speaking french, as I was one of only two members of the team who could speak the language.Overall, this experience has been amongst the best of my life. It was not only the expedition that taught me so much about myself, but it was also the years running up to it. I would also like to thank my amazing Expedition Leaders, Dougie lochhead and Emma Jane.
