Ifasina Overview

The first village we adopted is a tiny remote village in a beautiful, mountainous area of Madagascar. Ifasina, located in the Zafimaniry countryside, is accessible only on foot.
Hiking to Ifosina.

In this area of Madagascar, it was required that I be accompanied by at least one Malagasy and we had to hire a guide to take us to the village. Our guide Charles leads us on the 6 mile round-trip hike over steep mountain trails. Can you see the people on the path towards the top of the first and third photos? This trail was steep!

Hiking to Ifosina.

From the path at the top of the mountain, the view was breathtaking in all directions. Madagascar is a beautiful country.

Our tour of Ankevohevo.

As we crested this mountain, we got our first glimpse of Ifasina in the distance. So not knowing what to expect, I was excited with anticipation as we made our final descent into the village. The villagers did not know we were coming, so I was a bit anxious about what their reaction would be. And I had never done this before, so it would be a whole new experience.

In the photo on the right, the main building is a public school. Ifasina is half catholic, half protestant. There is a catholic church there, but the protestants worship out of their homes. The village chief is their protestant pastor.

Our tour of Ankevohevo.

Upon our arrival, small children who were not in school greeted us…I was happy they were friendly.

Our tour of Ankevohevo.

We asked to meet the village chiefs to introduce ourselves. The men were working in the rice paddy fields, so we met the chief’s wife and a local school teacher. I was surprised at how easy it was to get a meeting inside the village chief’s home.

We discussed the future needs of the village and devised a plan for bringing clothing and gift bags the following day. They were happy to have us.

Our tour of Ankevohevo.

Visit the Ifasina Tour section to see the tour of the village. Having never done a mission trip before, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it was going thus far.

For more information about Ifasina, please visit the other sections of this menu.