Music for Madagascar

Passionate MfM supporters are hosting a recital in Dublin this month to raise funds to help impoverished children in Madagascar. Concert takings could combat sickness by paying to install a safe water supply to a school.  Donations could also combat malnutrition by equipping children with the training and tools to set up their own school kitchen garden. 

If you live anywhere near Dublin please come along!

If you can't come but want to show your solidarity for this project you can donate on the MfM www.moneyformadagascar.org/make-a-donation 

Rain in Rice

In Madagascar people eat a lot of rice. Given the chance most Malagasy people would eat rice 3 times a day, but in reality many people struggle to afford a single bowl. How heavenly it would be then if in Madagascar it was raining rice! However this story is about rain in rice!

In a country where rice is so important, its not surprising that there is a hierarchy of rice dishes with ‘vary soa’ or wet rice ranking near the bottom. Like runny porridge it is appreciated by early risers and those with few teeth, but is not fuel enough for your average Malagasy labourer.

When Bernard & Marie from Dublin were volunteering at one of our projects in the village of Ambohidratrimo they stumbled across a new sort of wet rice. Sitting outside on the bare earth were malnourished children eating rice in the rain. This was the improvised feeding centre at Convent Hasina where, with next to no facilities, a small group of nuns were trying to provide some basic nutrition to the poorest children of the village. The nuns shared with the Irish couple their vision to build a small facility where they could serve meals to the poor in a dry and dignified way.

On return to Dublin, Bernard and Marie launched into fundraising immediately. With help from their Anglican community at Castleknock and Clonsilla with Mulhuddart they soon raised the €2000 needed for the building. MfM agreed to adopt the project and supervise the construction of the building, which was completed before the next rainy season set in. 

Bernard and the nuns dig foundations of the feeding centre.

The feeding centre is complete

Preparing food in the new kitchen

Enjoying 'dry' rice and vegetables

The Convent Hasina feeding centre is now up and running, providing a clean and welcoming refuge where children enjoy warm, nutritious meals. 

Last chance to see Madagascar's unique....

...2014 Calendars! 

The last few 'Magnificent Madagascar' calendars are

poised to bring a splash of colour and joy into your home.

Now reduced to just £6 each including UK postage.

All sales support our vital development work with some of the poorest people on the planet.

To place an order please visit our online shop 

http://www.moneyformadagascar.org/english/shop.asp

or you email info@moneyformadagascar.org.

MAGNIFICENT MADAGASCAR

The Money for Madagascar 2014 Calendar is now on sale! This is a perfect present to delight you and your friends throughout the new year. 

As Autumn blusters into Winter and you are down to the last pages of your 2013 calendar fear not! Money for Madagascar has a vivid new calendar lined up to brighten your wall with sunshine and smiles through the new year ahead.

Thank you to everyone who bought the Malagasy birdlife calendar last year which raised £1000 for our much needed work with the most vulnerable people of Madagascar.

The 2014  calendar features stunning photos of Malagasy people and places donated by the photographer and author Kris Pierscieniak. We met him this year at the Andasibe National Park, in the eastern rainforests, our necks stretching skywards to catch glimpses and photos of elusive lemurs. He was interested in MfM’s work and offered to share his photos with our supporters. Kris has included a very personal commentary on his photos. In his preface he writes:

‘The real story of Madagascar is the story of her people. It’s the story of their zest for life, their sense of humour, their hand-to-mouth survival in spite of all the odds. It’s exactly they, the people, who make the spirit and soul of Madagascar real.  Through my photography, I invite you to look into their world. The Big Red island of Madagascar is a place like no other...’

We hope the beautiful photos, coupled with the vignettes of MfM's work will give you a taste of the magic of Madagascar. 

All calendar sales will help MfM to fund low-cost, low-technology and community-led projects which can make a real difference to improving people’s lives and protecting Madagascar’s unique bio-diversity. 

To order your calendar please follow the link to the shop on the MfM website  http://moneyformadagascar.org/english/shop.asp  or post your order to the address on the flier above. Beautiful Christmas cards and alternative gifts are also available in the MfM on-line shop. Thank you for your support this Christmas.

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

Knight from Llangadog

Theresa is made a Knight of the National Order of Madagascar

During her recent trip to Madagascar Theresa Haine was 'flabbergasted' to be made a Chevalier de l’Ordre National Malagasy in recognition of  her work as Coordinator of the charity Money for Madagascar.  

Theresa’s passion and compassion for the Malagasy poor dates back to 1967 when she taught at a rural secondary school with no electricity and no running water.  (Fifty years on most schools in Madagascar are still without power, water or indeed books!)

Theresa recalls “On completing my teaching assignment in 1971 I knew I couldn’t just walk away.  Having seen the poverty, but also the ingenuity and hard work of the Malagasy people I was determined to find a way to help. So in 1986, when Barbara Prys-Williams called on Friends to start the first British charity dedicated to helping Madagascar I jumped at the chance to get involved. Before long I was a Trustee of Money for Madagascar.”

On hearing the news of Theresa’s Knighthood Barbara (now a Patron of MfM) expressed her delight in this “richly deserved award.” Adding “Many have worked hard for Money for Madagascar but no-one has approached Theresa in her long-term devotion to and belief in the cause. Money for Madagascar has been in existence for twenty-seven years. For twenty-four of those, Theresa has been centrally involved, first as a trustee and then in the demanding role of coordinator. Her compassion for those suffering and determination to do something to help has been awe-inspiring.”

Not wishing to dwell on the personal achievement of her knighthood Theresa is quick to point to the achievements of MfM such as building over 100 classrooms, planting forests the size of 60 football pitches, feeding and educating thousands of destitute children, training hundreds of impoverished and vulnerable women and girls, and helping forest communities to prosper whilst caring for their unique environment. None of this would have been possible without the hard work of MfM's Malagasy partners and the kind support of MfM's donors.

Guard of Honour

The public ceremony to make Theresa a Knight of the National Order of Madagascar was conducted hundreds of kilometres from the Madagascar’s capital in the small village of Ambohipo. Theresa was both delighted and moved by the ceremony reflecting..

“The Malagasy have taught me so many things about good human relationships that we are in danger of losing in the west and this occasion was a perfect example.  It was held with all possible ceremony (A uniformed officer presented the award with a guard of honour complete with gleaming white gloves!) but it was not held in an anonymous public building but rather in a village in an area where MfM has done a lot of work. So the crowds were made up of friends and supporters most of whom would not have been able to attend a ceremony held in some distant city.”

Celebration Dance

UK, Malagasy and Welsh flags salute decades of collaboration and friendship 

“As the sun shone on the green, white and red of the Welsh and Malagasy flags we gave thanks for the friendship between our people… for those who have gone before us, and those whose lives still depend on us.” 

Turning the Tide on Poverty

It’s time to turn your donations into action!

We are delighted to announce that the Money for Madagascar Concert, Ceilidh and Cross-Bay Walk raised over £13,000 and donations are still coming in. Thanks to the strong legs and deep pockets of MfM supporters from across Britain, the MfM knees up will benefit four needy projects, bringing new hope to hundreds of people across Madagascar.

Parents and teachers at Ambohidava are already using £6000 raised by our wild waders to build 2 new classrooms. They hope to have these ready in time for the students to use in October.

The ‘rentrée scolaire’ is an expensive time for any parent. But for community projects providing education to destitute and disadvantaged children the worry of how to provide pens, paper and books to hundreds of children at the start of the new term can be the cause of many a sleepless night. So we are happy to be able to send grants to Akany Avoko children’s home and La Source special needs school to help them fund educational supplies for the new school year.

With donations surpassing our wildest hopes we are delighted to have raised enough to launch a new project to help women and their children in Toamasina prison. This programme will provide food, education, counselling and hope to the bleak lives of these incarcerated women and children. MfM is very concerned that prisoners should be treated with humanity and given the opportunity for rehabilitation. We feel the need to help these vulnerable women and children is even more compelling since the legal system in Madagascar presumes people to be ‘guilty until proven innocent’. This will be the fourth prison project that MfM has delivered in partnership with SAF- FJKM Toamasina.

Well done to all the musicians, dancers, waders, swimmers, bakers, crafts-women, lemur carriers and sponsors who came together to make the MfM knees up such a great success. Thank you all for playing a part in turning the tide on poverty in Madagascar! We look forward to reporting on the progress of these projects.

See the MfM knees up for yourself!

On 13th and 14th of July Money for Madagascar's charity ceilidh, concert and Cross Bay Walk in aid of destitute and impoverished children in Madagascar was keenly supported by local Lancastrians as well as Trustees and supporters from across the UK. Special guests included Dom one of our beneficiaries from Madagascar, who held the MfM banner high for the  86 MfM supporters weaving through 9 miles of quick sands on Morecambe Bay.

 (Never try this walk without an official guide!)

To enjoy a fun selection of photos of the weekend knees up please follow this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/99298892@N03/

MfM makes a big splash!

Guided by a Malagasy lemur

On Sunday the 14th of July 70 adults, 16 children and 4 dogs gathered from across Britain to take wild wade in aid of destitute and vulnerable children in Madagascar. 

MfM's Development Office and Trustees wade into the waves.

Thanks to the 'Queen's Guide' 100 MfM supporters safely negotiated 9 miles of Morecambe Bay's infamous sinking sands. 

Thanks to your support our wade looks set to raise enough funds to build 2 new classrooms in Ambohidava. Last year over 100 children from 5 villages were risking their lives to wade to school across a flood plain. In 2012 MfM supported villagers to build the first 3 classrooms of a new secondary school within safe walking distance for their children. With funds raised from the MfM wild wade we should be able to complete the school building so that when school starts back in October no children will need to risk their lives wading across a flood plain to try to get to school. 

wading to school

Instead they will have a secondary school within safe reach of their homes. 

Happy students at the new Ambohidava CEG school

You can still donate at  https://www.justgiving.com/teams/BayWaders 

Watch this for more news of the grand total raised and who else will benefit..

Striding out with hope..

A boy tests the depth of the water as he wades across a flooded valley to get to school in Ambohimandry.

MfM Trustees have just returned from visiting many of our projects across the Red Island. It is always moving and inspiring to witness first hand what can be achieved in the face of such desperate poverty. Over the coming weeks we look forward to sharing with you some news and success stories witnessed on our visits.

As Trustees roll up their trousers ready for our grand ‘Stride into the Tide’ on the 14^th of July, we are filled with great hope of raising enough donations to make a very real impact on the lives of some of the world’s poorest children.

Children set to benefit from our wild wade include students such as Tojo, a child who took his first stride at the age of eleven. Tojo has severe learning disabilities and poor motor skills. La Source, the special school that he attends, has a programme of therapy and independent living skills which is showing wonderful results. When Tojo arrived at the age of eleven he could only crawl and had very little language or self-expression. Thanks to intensive physiotherapy and hydro-therapy Tojo can now stand up on his own and walk a few steps unaided.

Tojo (right) has learned to walk!

There is no state funding for special schools like La Source. The school is run by a dedicated team of staff and is totally dependent on student fees and grants. Money for Madagascar makes an annual grant to the school but there is so much more that we would like to provide. MfM runs a sponsorship scheme for young people like Tojo whose parents can’t afford the modest fees at La Source. Any regular contribution, from as little as £5 to £35 a month can help a child to receive the education they desperately need and deserve.

For information about the sponsorship scheme please contact the MfM Coordinator on info@moneyformadagascar.org

To sponsor Trustees and MfM supporters on our epic Stride across Morecambe Bay please go to our online donation page www.justgiving.com/teams/BayWaders

For more information about the MfM Stride into the Tide please see our events page http://moneyformadagascar.blogspot.co.uk/p/events.html .

Thank you!