NY AKO Concert in Lancaster – 14th June 2018

Money for Madagascar (MFM) is hosting the wonderful and amazingly talented NY AKO group on 14^th June 2018 at Lancaster Methodist Church, Scotforth Rd. Lancaster LA1 4TE at 7:30pm.

This family-friendly event will feature traditional Malagasy music and dance from around the Island. There is a suggested donation of £10 at the door (£5 for concessions) with donations going to our partners and projects across Madagascar, which support some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

Madagascar is a beautiful country with amazing people but it also one of the poorest in the world today with many facing water and food shortages, as well as poor education. This immense poverty also puts pressure on Madagascar’s beautiful and unique environment and this is why funding these projects through is so vital. Our projects support the Malagasy people in their day-to-day lives helping to reduce poverty, improve education, and also preserve and protect Madagascar’s beautiful and unique environment.

Madagascar also supports projects, which help the Malagasy people start their own businesses. Less than 20% of the population in Madagascar are in formal employment and so we work with partners who offer training, small grants, tools and materials, which help thousands of poor Malagasy start their income generating enterprises. By attending the Ny Ako performance you can actively help the Malagasy people!

For more information about our projects visit https://moneyformadagascar.org/ or to make a donation visit https://moneyformadagascar.org/make-a-donation/

Thank you

Written by John Garman

Hip Hip Hurrah for Harry Cassie and his family and friends!

We are very pleased to highlight the generous support of three generations of the Cassie family to Money for Madagascar (MfM). Harry Cassie along with his friends and family are currently raising money to fund projects on the island of Madagascar.

This remarkable family has been involved with Madagascar since the 1960s when Harry’s grandfather Stuart Cassie was working as a volunteer teacher in Madagascar. The photo below is of him at a reunion with people he had taught when he was volunteering. Both of these former students are now teachers!

Stuart Cassie with his former students

After he retired, Stuart was deeply involved with MfM as the treasurer from 2002 to 2013. His son Alastair went on to volunteer in Madagascar during his gap year. The latest person to support MfM is Alastair’s son Harry.

Harry has set up a Just Giving page to raise funds for MfM as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award. In his own words:

“Madagascar is 1000 miles long and it seemed like an appropriate target to match with my goal of raising £1000. With this sum the charity can provide and install a water well for a school in a rural community, raise more we can give the tools and seeds to plant fruit and vegetable gardens, the opportunities are endless. As part of my updates I'll be highlighting different projects that Money for Madagascar is involved in as well as my own progress and that of others participating.

So over the past few months I've been getting some miles under my belt, and am now launching my campaign for sponsorship.  I have completed 68/1000 miles since the start of December. Time to get moving a lot more!

How can you help ?

1/ Sponsor to achieve the £1000 target (e.g. 1p per mile is just £10!)

2 / Donate miles* - donate some personal miles that you can achieve through walking / running / cycling swimming before 1/7/2018 and we'll get to our 1000 mile target quicker...Together we can reach more people and raise awareness of the plight of Madagascar and the invaluable work that Money for Madagascar charity does.

* If donating miles please keep a record of how you've achieved your miles, ideally with evidence from either a written log / fitbit / phoneapp”

We wish Harry and his friends and family all the very best and thank them for supporting the work of MfM. This fundraising effort is also a wonderful tribute to his grandfather Stuart Cassie.

Please click on the link below, if you would like to see Harry achieve his target!

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/harry-cassie

many thanks

Sunita Abraham

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!

Top Award for Irenée!

Here at Money for Madagascar, we would like to congratulate our very own Director, Irenée Rajaona-Horne for the recognition she has received in Madagascar in relation to her work in the country. Irenee has been awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National – an award for outstanding contribution which is presented by the Government of Madagascar.

The ceremony celebrating Irenee’s tireless efforts over the years – efforts that have only grown since her relationship with Madagascar began in 1996 as a Quaker volunteer at Akany Avoko’s Children’s Centre, was held on the 13^th May 2016 at one of the schools that benefits from MfM and Adsum’s Ed4Life programme.

The day consisted of spending the morning with the staff that work at the school and the children that attend the school, along with their parents. Irenee, along with people attending the ceremony, learnt all about how far the programme had progressed since its introduction and reiterated the importance of MfM’s work in Madagascar.

Guests and dignitaries, which included MfM’s Malagasy partners, colleagues and Akany Avoko graduates who worked with Irenee for 10 years in Ambohidratritimo before she moved to the UK, arrived at 12pm, with the knighthood being awarded at 12.30pm. Also in attendance was Chris Sewell who was representing MfM’s trustees. Following on from this, all who had gathered shared a meal together.

To find out more about Irenee’s work in Madagascar and get involved, please visit www.moneyformadagscar.org – who knows, one day you could be receiving the Chevalier de l’Ordre National yourself!

To make a donation, please click here. Thank you for your support.

Irenee to be awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National Malagasy!

We are happy to share some exciting news with you all. Tomorrow, Friday 13th of May, the director of MfM – Irenee Rajaona-Horne - will be awarded the ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre National’ (a knighthood) from the Government of Madagascar in recognition of her services to the children of Madagascar.

The ceremony will take place in Madagascar at one of 34 schools taking part in MfM's Education for life programme. It will involve a guard of honour and will be attended by all the local dignitaries. We will be publishing more details on the event in the next fortnight.

For the past 20 years Irenee has worked tirelessly to help improve the lives of vulnerable and destitute children in Madagascar.

During her 10 years as a Quaker Volunteer at Akany Avoko Children’s Centre (1998-2008), Irenee worked directly with destitute children as well as helping to raise vital funds to enable the centre to continue its work. The attached photo shows Irenee with two women whom Irenee taught many years ago as teenagers. "It is a delight to see the children, who were once destitute,  grow up into caring parents who are able to provide a home and an education for their children." (said Irenee)

Since her return to Lancaster in 2008, Irenee has worked for Money for Madagascar, initially as the Development Officer and now as the Director. In this time MfM has had the privilege to support over 10,000 Malagasy people to fight against poverty and improve the environment.

Irenee would like to thank all the Malagasy partners who have made this work possible.  Likewise we would not have been able to make such a positive difference without the help of supporters like you. So thank you for your encouragement, interest and contributions!

To find out more about what we do in Madagascar and to see how you can get involved visit https://www.moneyformadagascar.org. To make a donation to support our partners who are trying to protect forests and livelihoods in Madagascar, please visit
http://moneyformadagascar.org/english/make-a-donation.asp

Help Zachary Raise Money to Protect Madagascar Wildlife!

MfM is very privileged to have the support of people from different walks of life. We are amazed at the fantastic ways in which people raise funds to make a difference in the lives of communities in Madagascar.

Zachary Barker is very interested in supporting MfM's conservation and community development work in Madagascar. He has decided to run the Vitality Reading Half Marathon 2016 on 3^rd April 2016 and on the Just Giving website he explains why he would like to support MfM:

“I have decided to raise money for this particular charity because it seeks to create step-ups, as oppose to handouts to some very poor people.  Poverty leads to people resorting to desperate means to make a living, whether that is deforesting an area to farm or hunt animals for bush meat or live trade. I have never been to Madagascar, but I hear the animals that live there are some of the most diverse and fascinating in the world.  I hope to have a child one day and I don't really want them to grow up in a world where such animals only exist on the internet, in a book or in the zoo.  I will be happy if the money I raise will help some desperate people lead sustainable livelihoods.

Please give as much or as little as you can spare.”

If you would like to support him please follow the link below:

Help Zachary raise more money for charity

Another friend of MfM is the award-winning freelance writer and photographer Mike Unwin. The photos that appear in this blog piece in relation to Madagascar were taken by Mike on a recent visit there and he has very kindly given us permission to use them. 

To find out more about what we do in Madagascar and to see how you can get involved visit http://www.moneyformadagascar.org/

Thank You!

Ex-Street Kids Embark on Teaching Career

These two young men were abandoned on the street at the ages of three and five and were brought by the police to Money for Madagascar’s partner, Pasteure Helivao.  Helivao is a remarkable woman with a heart so big that she will always find a way to overcome even the most challenging of situations that she comes across.  She took them in to her street kids' project in Isotry and supported them through primary and secondary education. Both boys passed their Baccalaureate in 2009 and then MfM funded them to do teacher training in Antananarivo.  After successfully graduating from university in 2012 they are just about to start their second year of teaching experience.  If all goes well, in 2014 they are hoping to go on to do Masters’ degrees in education. This will equip them to fulfill their dreams of teaching in secondary schools.

In Madagascar about 40% of the population is illiterate. Put another way an average adult has only completed 4.4 years of school education. These young men know what it is like to have a tough start in life. But they have proven that with a little timely care ones fortunes can be totally transformed. Having narrowly escaped a life condemned to ignorance and desperate struggle these young men are resolved to share the wonders of education through a vocation in teaching. We wish them every success.

MfM educates hundreds of street kids every year