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/.

Thanking Our Volunteers!

Volunteers and Staff at the Merchants Pub

On the 18th of June, we had a volunteer get-together in Lancaster. It was a small way of expressing our thanks to volunteers who contribute their time and skills to MfM, and also a chance for them to meet up with each other.

Not all our volunteers could make it but those who could had a choice of two events to attend. One related to a concert put up by Lancaster Millennium Choir, a faithful supporter of Akany Avoko. The concert was for an hour and it showcased their latest piece - Charlie the Cello. Some of our volunteers attended this event and were also able to sell some Malagasy crafts and greeting cards to raise money for our partners in Madagascar. Others joined us at the pub, and you can see from the picture above that we were enjoying some lovely summer sunshine. We want to say a special thank you to our volunteers for all their hard work and commitment!

Ash Rofe receiving certificate

Earlier on this month, one of our volunteers Ash Rofe received a certificate from the Mayor of Lancaster at the annual Volunteer Awards which are hosted by the Lancaster chapter of CVS (Council for Voluntary Services). He was nominated in the category for Young Volunteer of the Year. Ash has been an intern with us since October 2015 and he is returning to complete his undergraduate studies at Lancaster University. Ash has come in to our office once a week every Friday and contributed his skills and knowledge to help us with a variety of office tasks. We thank him for his time and efforts and wish him all the very best as he enters his final year of undergraduate studies.

We would also like to thank Alice Tooms our fundraising intern from Lancaster University who has completed her undergraduate studies and is moving on to new pastures. We do hope that both Alice and Ash will continue to be in touch with us and will spread the word about the work that our partners do in Madagascar!