MfM supporter on sponsored bike ride around Madagascar!

Money for Madagascar supporter Eenos Henno is currently undertaking a 5000km sponsored motorcycle ride around Madagascar to raise awareness of the issues which affect the Malagasy people. Along his journey around southern and western Madagascar, which is expected to last around 34 days and take in some of the most remote areas of the country, he will visit a number of projects and initiatives being run or supported by MfM. 

Eenos was motivated to take on this challenge after hearing about the plight of Malagasy children, many of whom are living in poverty. According to Eenos, “In the western world we take it for granted having access to clean water, food and education. These are the essential basics which allow us to create the future we desire. The Malagasy are one of the poorest people on earth, more than 70 percent of them are living on less than a dollar a day. Nearly half of Madagascar’s children under five years of age are malnourished. For children leaving school just staying alive is an increasing problem in Madagascar. An estimated two million children are working instead of receiving an education. Child labor is illegal in Madagascar but severe poverty makes it a survival necessity.”

Along the ride Eenos will be uploading footage to his video blog in order to raise awareness of the challenges which face the people who live in Madagascar, as well as the impact which projects such as those supported by MfM can have on their daily lives. He is also hoping to raise sponsorship which will be donated to MfM to support their work which includes helping lift families out of poverty, and assisting destitute children and vulnerable women and girls. 

A small donation could make a big difference to Malagasy communities:
$10 provides one family with the technical support and materials they need to sustain in order to increase their rice production and grow vegetables and fruit trees.
$20 will help set up a family in fish farming or small scale livestock keeping.
$60 will help establish and maintain irrigation systems for a community.
$200 will provide a well pump to a remote village, ensuring their access to clean drinking water and improving the health of the community.

To find out more about Eenos' challenge, see updates and pictures from his journey and sponsor him visit this link.

Inspiring Malagasy Women

For more than 25 years Money for Madagascar has been dedicated to investing in Malagasy people who can be agents for change in their own communities. Training of leaders of national and regional Malagasy NGOs cascades down to benefit thousands of people at the community level. Investing in the education and training of destitute children and vulnerable teenagers has produced teachers, social workers, doctors and development agents with an exceptional commitment to helping their fellow citizens. MfM is always looking for new opportunities to help Malagasy people to help themselves. Below are the details of a new opportunity:

Malagasy women studying abroad may be eligible for financial support toward doctoral or post-doctoral studies in the fields of science, technology, engineering or mathematics. The Schlumberger Foundation is accepting new applications for the 2015–2016 Faculty for the Future Fellowships from September 10th to November 14th, 2014.

Candidates should prove their commitment to returning to their home countries to contribute to the economic, social and technological advancement of their regions, pursuing careers in the teaching and research faculties of their home institutions and also taking positions in the public sector.

http://www.facultyforthefuture.net/

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

Back to school - with your help!

Access to education is a right denied to thousands of Malagasy children, none more so than those living in remote rural areas. 

Local dignitaries cut the ribbon to open the latest MfM-funded school in rural Madagascar

August saw the inauguration of the a new MFM-funded school in the rural Commune of Maritampona. This star-studded (by rural Malagasy standards!) event was attended by one of Money for Madagascar's most trusted development partners - Mr Martin Ravelomanantsoa (Director of Association ALF), who had overseen the construction project, along with a host of dignitaries including the Head of the Region. But of course the most important VIP's in attendance were the 275 excited schoolchildren whose lives will be changed by the new facility. 

The real VIP's of the inauguration - the dozens of schoolchildren whose lives will be changed by this new facility.

In his speech the Head of Region praised the new 3-classroom facility that Money for Madagascar and ALF had delivered stating that "this  new building is going to help a lot, not just the children of our village but also the children of many neighbouring villages".

The primary school at  Ampihoaramaso is the latest in a long line of schools and classrooms built by our Malagasy partner organisations thanks solely to the kindness and generosity of Money for Madagascar's supporters. Without a decent education there is little hope that the children of rural Madagascar will ever escape the poverty trap and realise their full potential. 

Director of ALF and trusted MfM partner: Martin Ravelomanantsoa accepts the congratulations of the Head of Region. 

By working through local partner organisations Money for Madagascar also helps to ensure that the capacity to identify and prioritise needs, apply for funding and manage projects through to completion is encouraged and supported.  We believe that this approach will also help ensure that the ingenuity and energy of the inspirational people we work with helps the broadest number of beneficiaries possible.