Dear friends,
It is 6:30 a.m. in the remote village of Andolofotsy, a six-hour drive from Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo. Léa Harilalao opens the door and looks across the road to the thatched shelter where a dozen or so people have already begun to congregate. “The dispensary is only meant to open at seven,” she laughs softly, “but, as you can see, people come early.” So, often – when she does not have visitors to look after – Harilalao, a midwife, begins to examine patients well before 7 a.m.
Today, though, she graciously makes time to introduce us to her work and to the community she tirelessly serves. Harilalao runs the dispensary at Andolofotsy, one of 36 largely rural dispensaries established around the country by the Development Department (SAF) of the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (known by its Malagasy acronym, FJKM). This is also one of seven facilities that SAF has opened with assistance from Presbyterian World Mission – which is why I have joined Dr. Josoa Randrianonivelo, the head of SAF’s Health Program, and Pastor Paul Razafintsalama, the president of the local FJKM regional synod, to visit the area.
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