A Precious Day
Photo of Ketsa’s Birth Grandmother
Printed with permission from Ketsa.
As many of you know, we adopted our Malagasy daughter thirty-four years ago from Neny Lava’s toby. Her name, Ketsa, stems from the verb “manetsa” - to transplant the young green rice from one field to another. Yesterday we met her birth mother, two sisters (out of eleven siblings) and one nephew for the first time. The experience was touching, tender and tearful, too private to disclose more details in a public forum.
The mother described the terrible drought in southern Madagascar during the late 80s while pregnant with Ketsa. People were dying from starvation and thrown into mass graves. Lack of food to feed their family forced her and her husband to leave their ancestral village and join the Fort Dauphin toby. Sadly enough, the drought continues to this day.
Madagascar has embraced Christianity since the early 1800s, perhaps spurred on by the persecution of Christians under Queen Ranavalona I. The indigenous revivalist Fifohazana Movement was pioneered by Ranisoalambo during the late 1800s, gaining momentum under Nenilava, the "Prophetess of Madagascar" (1920 - 1998). This movement indigenized Christianity to reflect Malagasy culture and tradition. Direct revelation, a core belief in miracles, living in community at established centers (tobys), healing rituals and ay shepherds (mpifoha) - are some of its many mystically-based distinguishing features. After some resistance, mainline churches eventually legitimized the Fifohazana Movement, resulting in a more culturally sensitive approach to mission work in Madagascar.
Ketsa is our “Neny Lava” baby, and her birth mother remains a mpiandry to this day. Both of us mothers parted ways with an overwhelming flood of gratitude and love for each other and the daughter we share.
Ketsa and Baby Ketsa 1 year old
Ketsa 36 years old with Shane
