A senator's-eye view

[7/29/07 --- Dear Bryan, From the hilltop view of a senator’s home in Mahajanga, Madagascar, this place looks like a postcard. You can see the whole C-shaped cove, watch the sail boats come to harbor and see rickshaws cart tourists up and down the boardwalk. What you can’t see are the hardships. People piss on the street corners here and many live outside. Most of the country lives on less than $1 a day. But you would never know those things from up here, behind a gated, metal fence, and with a servant house full of people ready to wait on you. Having wealth, in and of itself, isn't a bad thing, I suppose. But the contrast between this hilltop life and that below is staggering. – John]