 My name is Lea. I was born in Madagascar, but I was adopted at the age of 7 by a French family. I wanted to participate in this La Jarrano Youth Diaspora Volunteer Program to connect with my Malagasy roots and to better understand what it means to be Malagasy. At the same time, I also wanted to contribute to the development of Madagascar, as modest as my contribution may be. I was assigned to work in the rural town of Montessau. I had many long conversations with council officials about the history of the town and how the town functions. I learned about the different roles played by council officials in the town. At the community center, I worked with children and organized educational and recreational activities in order to discover and develop their many talents. We organized drawing, dancing, and singing activities, and we also played games in the Montessau Town Hall. We then exhibited all of the children's work. We had in mind a place where people of all ages can meet up. We developed an area next to the town's sports facilities that included a place for board games, hopscotch, swings for the little ones, and a cottage garden where the children can learn to grow vegetables. Free time for children in Montessau, as many places in Madagascar, is limited. Oftentimes, families require children to contribute to household chores when not at school. However, even with limited free time, children always have a smile on their face and find creative ways to share and community activities. We also organized language exchanges in French and Malagasy and computer workshops. This was a very moving experience for me. Spending time with the kids and reflecting on their experiences, I was able to reclaim a part of my childhood that was lost when I was adopted. My adoption was a closed adoption where no information or contact is shared between the child and birth parents. It's hard to explain how I feel about this experience because it has been a very emotional time. It is humbling to think of the opportunities I have enjoyed simply because I was lucky enough to grow up elsewhere, the kinds of opportunities that children here simply don't have. At the same time, I was filled with awe by the level of trust, mutual support, and openness that existed here, and the willingness of the young people here to freely give me the time and support that has allowed me to reconnect with my roots.