Money for Madagascar launches Christmas Appeals

Christmas is a time for giving. While people at home may have plenty, Madagascar is home to some of the world’s poorest people and most endangered species of wildlife. To mark the beginning of advent and the Christmas season, MfM have launched two festive themed appeals: to buy a Christmas meal for each of the 1000 children being cared for by our partners; and our ‘Christmas tree’ appeal to plant a tree in Madagascar and aid the reforestation effort.

MfM supports centres which care for over 1000 destitute children in Madagascar, providing them with a home, education and food. These centres rely on the generous support of donors around the world. One of the biggest costs they face is to provide meals for the children in their care. Just £5 can provide a meal for a child this Christmas and we hope to raise £5000 to provide a Christmas dinner for each of the 1000 children living in our centres.

Madagascar’s rainforests are also home to amazing and unique species of wildlife – but they are under threat. Deforestation is putting extreme pressure on the country’s rainforests, and destroying vital habitats putting many species of flora and fauna at risk of extinction, forever. Just £1 can buy an extra-special ‘Christmas tree’ which will aid in the restoration of these rainforests and also provide a gift to the animals which call them home.

To buy a meal for a child this Christmas, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/help-madagascar2 or text  MFOM77 £5  to 70070 to donate £5.

To plant a tree in Madagascar text   HAZO77 £1   to 70070 to donate £1 or visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/helpmadagascarplanttrees.

A donation of any other amount will also be gladly accepted.

Make this Christmas count. Please share these appeals with your friends and give a present to Madagascar this holiday season. Thank you. 

Stories from Madagascar: Nirina's Story

As part of our ‘Stories from Madagascar’ series of articles where we look at examples of work carried out by Malagasy organisations which we work with, we visit the story of Nirina who was helped by Akany Avoko Faravohitra (AAF), a home for destitute girls which provides them with care, education and support.

Nirina was arrested for marijuana possession when she was 17 and placed at AAF. Before that, she had lived her whole life on the streets. Her mother picked through garbage to make a living, and Nirina dropped out of school when she was seven years old to join her. Nirina was only 13 when she had her first child, and now she lives at AAF with her sons, four-year-old Norbert, and nine-month-old Tsiry.

Thanks to AAF, Nirina feels safe for the first time in her life, and she is proud of the difference in how she parents her children now. The social workers at AAF taught her that it is good for her baby’s development if she talks to and plays with him, something she had never heard before. She learned to weave raffia at AAF and has become an accomplished artisan, but is facing a lot of uncertainty since she is now a legal adult. Her dream is to rent a small house near her older child’s school, and support her family with her handicrafts, but she needs financial support to begin living independently.

Centres such as AAF provide a life-changing experience for some of the poorest and most vulnerable people on the planet. However, AAF have found themselves in a situation where have been left unable to pay their bills or even buy food for the girls living at the centre until their next instalment of funding arrives in mid-August. Money for Madagascar is currently running an emergency appeal on behalf of the centre: please click here if you wish to donate to help Akany Avoko, Faravohitra stating that it is for the ‘AAF Appeal.’ Any donation, big or small, will be gratefully received.