Voyage of the Vézo
The Vezo (VEHzu) are the coastal society of southwest Madagascar. Their world has always relied on the coral reef. Maro Bezozo fishes the reef everyday. As he begins to catch fewer and smaller fish, Maro wonders whether the Vezo's relationship with the ocean has fallen out of balance. He embarks on a voyage that will take him over 100 kilometers north of his home in Ifaty. Sailing from village to village, he will see if the other Vezo also sense this deterioration. Maro's eleven year-old nephew and apprentice, Sambalahy, joins him on the voyage. Even as Sambalahy begins to understand the Vezo way, Maro wonders whether these traditions, and Sambalahy's future livelihood, are passing away with the coral reef.