Yesterday was a sad day in Fort Dauphin. Extraordinarily, two buildings have collapsed on the same calm dry day, one killing 30 men and the other killing 6 and injuring 8 others.
Both buildings were modern. One the sorting shed at the port, the roof of which caved in.... and the other was a brand new office block being constructed for the Cnaps (tax) office, which was apparently having additional foundations added after 4 storeys had already gone up.
Us vazah (white strangers) in town are often amused or at worst frustrated by the traditional fomba (taboos/traditions) that exist here. One of these is the ritual of killing a beast before you start to build anything .... a chicken for posts / a sheep for a wall / a cow for a house. I have never known why this was taken so seriously until now.
Apparently Tolagnaro (the Malagasy name for Fort Dauphin) means 'old bones'. The whole town is built on the site of an ancient burial ground - these are sacred places that any stranger and certainly vazah are not welcome in. The gossips in town are now convinced that these new buildings didn't respect the traditional fomba before they started construction .... and the ancestors have now shown how cross they are.
I for one will continue to be respectful of this tradition... and can only hope that those responsible for these buildings safety are generous to the families that these 36 men leave behind.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
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