I\u2019m excited to be working on a new and admittedly somewhat ambitious project: a series of short documentaries examining some jobs in Madagascar\u2019s informal sector. I plan to describe the work itself, but also spend some time thinking about why these jobs exist in Madagascar (and probably other developing countries), but not elsewhere.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve played around a bit with short documentaries over the years \u2013 just for fun \u2013 but I\u2019ve always thought it would be fun (if I had a lot of time) to do some more serious work on the untold stories that are all around us \u2013 the street kids, the cart-pullers, the people we see every day on the streets. I decided to take it on when we spoke to a turkey-seller on the street back in June \u2013 he was doing everything he could to stop the turkeys from wandering out onto a busy four-lane road, and when he told me he and two friends walked the turkeys from a mile away every day I was hooked.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately by the time we went back to him to make the arrangements, he had nearly sold all his turkeys and we realized they were especially for Madagascar\u2019s independence day (June 26). But we\u2019ve arranged to see him again in November, when he plans to repeat the process for Christmas turkeys.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, here are the other episodes I’ve done so far:<\/p>\n
Episode 1: Blacksmith (Mpanefy)<\/p>\n
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Episode 2: Brickmaker (mpanao briky)<\/p>\n
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Episode 3: Metalsmith (mpanefy firavaka)<\/p>\n
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Episode 4: Valiha Maker (mpanamboatra valiha)<\/p>\n\n\n\n