Fulgence, a rickshaw driver`s saga

Fulgence has been working quite hard over the latest six years and earning a wee bit more than the full time farmer he used to be in his village called Manampisoa, located 10 miles n the East of Antsirabe. “It takes a three hours long march to reach my village. I generally go home every week on Fridays and come back the following week on Mondays” did he summarize his timetable. The way to his part time job begins in Manampisoa early in the morning at 03:00. The three hours long walk is however no match for a driver in for completing several dozens of rides till the end of the same day, each of them bringing between Ar600 and Ar1500 in. “I’m a farmer in Manampisoa at the same time. We can supply our own family with enough corn, tapioca and rice for one year, yet we still need money to purchase many other goods. On this account, I decided to come to work in Antsirabe” told Fulgence.

This happens to be a typical aspect of rural existence. Farming basically supplies farmers and their families with food, and the need of cash requires them to find jobs in the city or in the closest available town. This way of life seems to suit people like Fulgence.

Days are generally smooth. Breaks between two rides downtown are spent on small talks with colleagues. Recovering Manampisoa in time requires Fulgence to leave Antsirabe at around 16:00, “lest night falls before I’m back home” he explained. Score of city boys would find this way of life quite straining, bearing in mind that extra time are not scarce even if it means a late come back home, yet this way of life has become a standard to Fulgence and those of his kind yearning for making a decent living