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. 

75 year old MfM Patron and Travel Author is running for Madagascar!

 75 year old Money for Madagascar Patron Hilary Bradt is running two 10 kilometer runs to raise money for MfM, in Bristol on Sunday 7th May, and in London on the 29th May. As well as her patronage of MfM, Hilary is the author of the renowned Bradt travel guide books, and her guides to Madagascar are considered the authoritative guides to the country. With this keen interest in Madagascar, it only makes sense that she would want to raise money to help those who live there. 

Hilary, then age 70, after running the London 10k in 2012

Hilary has previously raised money for Money for Madagascar by running the London 10k and the 10 mile Great South run five years ago, at the age of 70. Hilary described how she considered this feat to be "quite impressive" at the time and seems upbeat about the latest challenge, but admits that there is "no hope" of getting fit in time for the impeding Bristol run.

Hilary ran the Great South Run wearing this lemur hat.

 Hilary is accepting donations via Justgiving, where there are more details about her run, and all money raised will be used to help some of the poorest people on the planet. MfM would also like to wish Hilary the best of luck with her endeavor and thank her for her ongoing commitment to supporting the Malagasy people.

Urgent Appeal: Madagascar Famine

Please help us support Malagasy families facing famine!

As the drought in southern Madagascar tightens its grip, 850,000 Malagasy people are facing extreme hunger. Having exhausted all their food reserves, many families are resorting to eating cacti and boiled ashes to quell their hunger. Without urgent humanitarian intervention, these families will face starvation. 

Cactus pads are the last available source of food

Credit: Ben. C. Soloman/New York Times

With your support, we can offer them an immediate lifeline and hope for the future. Emergency food supplies will sustain them through the crisis, whilst drought resistant seeds and farming equipment will help them get back on their feet. 

Please Donate Today to help us offer practical support and life saving nutrition to families facing famine in southern Madagascar!

If you would like to find out more about the causes and consequences of the emerging famine in southern Madagascar, Click here to read a powerful article from the New York Times.

Thank you for your support! 

 

URGENT APPEAL: Madagascar Drought Relief

The United Nations has warned that 1.5 million Malagasy people face severe hunger and food shortages because of the ongoing drought in the south of the country (link). The ‘El Nino’ phenomenon has resulted in unusually dry weather and means that harvests are substantially below their usual levels, with families in affected areas resorting to eating seed stocks which will further exacerbate the situation over the coming months. 

According to the UN, over a million people living in the affected regions have low food security. Without urgent action to secure food sources for these people the situation could become substantially worse. We need urgent help to allow our partners to buy new drought-resistant seed stock and equipment for farmers.  Money for Madagascar is running an urgent appeal to help those affected by this drought. Please donate now if you can!

To donate, click here.

To find out more about the crisis currently unfolding, visit http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/449030/icode/.

RAINFOREST APPEAL

PRISCA'S FAMILY HAS TO DESTROY THE RAINFOREST IN ORDER TO SURVIVE!

WILL YOU GIVE THEM AN ALTERNATIVE?

Living on the rainforest margins, Prisca's family struggle to find enough land to grow the food they need. Increasing population pressure and land degradation are forcing them to clear the forest and hunt wildlife, such as lemurs, in order to survive. It's hard to consider the consequences of destroying the rainforest when the survival of your family is at stake!

With your help we can change Prisca's life and protect Madagascar's precious rainforests. Our partners can offer Prisca's family the chance to support themselves without destroying the unique environment that surrounds them. For as little as £10 per month, they can provide her family with the training and resources to sustainably grow rice, vegetables and fruit trees, as well as farming fish or keeping livestock.

Will you DONATE NOW so that Prisca and her family can have of a better life without destroying the rainforest?

WANT TO FIND OUT MORE?

Biologically, Madagascar is one of the richest places on earth. It is home to more than 175,000 endemic plant and animal species including 50 kinds of lemur and plants with cancer curing properties. Economically, Madagascar is one of the poorest places on earth. Daily survival is a struggle for most of the rural population. Widespread malnutrition results in stunting amongst 50% of Malagasy children. This extreme rural poverty is threatening the future of Madagascar's forests and wildlife.  The World Wildlife Fund estimate that 90% of Madagascar's forest cover has already been lost. Continued destruction is threatening thousands of species with extinction.

We believe that it is only possible to conserve Madagascar's precious rainforest by offering the local people practical alternatives to deforestation. That is why for the last 25 years we have been working with communities on the margins of the Betampona rainforest reserve, helping families like Prisca's to diversify their livelihoods and to develop sustainable agricultural practices. Our aim is to both alleviate poverty and conserve the precious rainforest. 

Our long term approach to poverty alleviation is proving effective in the fight to save the forests. Around Betampona, we have seen many family incomes double. These families can now eat better, afford to send their children to school and visit the doctor when they are sick. Deforestation and poaching have decreased.

To ensure the future of the forests we need to be able to reach more families, giving them the chance to improve their lives sustainably. We can only do this with the help of generous supporters like you.

Will you DONATE to give more families the chance to raise themselves out of poverty without destroying the forest?

Any donation big or small will make a difference. However, committing to a monthly donation would really help us to plan for the years to come and to target our work most effectively.

£10 a month could provide one family with the technical support and materials they need to sustainably increase their rice production and grow vegetables and fruit trees.

£15 a month could set up a family in fish farming or small scale livestock keeping. 

£20 a month could set up and maintain a community reforestation nursery.

£30 a month could employ an agricultural outreach worker to provide training and technical support in sustainable food production to families and communities.

£50 a month could help establish and maintain irrigation systems for a community.  

To help families like Prisca's follow the link below:

Help protect forests and livelihoods in Madagascar 

THANK YOU!

Madagascar Cyclone Appeal

On the 14^th of February 2012 cyclone Giovanna blasted into Brickaville on the East coast of Madagascar ripping down trees, schools, churches and homes as well as flattening electricity and phone lines in its wake.

Most cyclones fizzle out before reaching the capital Antananarivo, in the highlands of Madagascar.But not this time! As torrential rain flooded roads, homes and businesses..

.. and winds ripped at roofs

…there was little hope for the make-shift shelters which were home to Madagascar’s poorest people.

According to the Bureau National De Gestion Des Risques et des Catastrophe by the time Giovanna surged out to sea at Morondava it had killed 35 and injured 256 people and left 241,597 people homeless and disaster-stricken. The devastated country had hardly drawn breath when cyclone Irina struck on the 26^th of February killing at least 72 people and rendering another 70,000 homeless.

Now is the time to help survivors to rebuild their lives. Our partners at Vonjy Voina SAF/FJKM are experienced in delivering disaster relief and reconstruction to Malagasy cyclone victims. So Money for Madagascar has launched an appeal to help them in this vital work. The more money we can raise the more people they can reach.

http://www.justgiving.com/Irenee-Rajaona-Horne

or the MfM website http://www.moneyformadagascar.org/english/howtod.htm

Thank you!