BACKGROUND: Akany Avoko Bevalala is a home for destitute
boys, which was set up as part of Akany Avoko Ambohidratrimo Girls centre on
the outskirts of the capital Antananarivo.
INTRODUCTION TO AAA: Akany
Avoko Ambohidratrimo is one of the branches of the Social work of the FFPM. It
was originally set up as a place to help young girls who had been in trouble
with the law. But since then it has become a home which takes in vulnerable
children and seeks to educate them and protect them.
AIMS OF THE HOME: Akany
Avoko Ambohidratrimo aims to give children the affection, education and
protection which they need, so that they can become responsible citizens and
take their place in society again.
WHY DID AKANY AVOKO AMBOHIDRATRIMO TAKE IN YOUNG BOYS? As has been stated above, the Home was
originally set up to cater for young girls. The situation changed over the
years. Sometimes Judges came across cases of children being abandoned by their
parents. If there were brothers and sisters from the same family, they could be
placed together at the Home. They had already been abandoned so why increase
their trauma by separating them?
So brothers and sisters are taken
in together, but as children grow up there can be problems. Once the boys have
reached the age of 14 or so, the Home is no longer suitable for them. So they
should really be in a Home for young boys but since there was no suitable Home
available they remained at Ambohidratrimo.
Eventually the judges decided
that the boys could be placed at a boys boarding home at Ambatonmanga, while
remaining the responsibility of Akany Avoko Ambohidratrimo, and returning there
during the holidays – especially those without any other family.
It is now planned that AAB
becomes self-sufficient with its own budget and responsibility. The centre has its own market-garden which
the boys tend to and allows them to learn skills whilst growing their own food. The boys also learn other skills such as
woodworking and farming. Education is
extremely important for these boys to have a future and so they all attend
school and church. On the sporting side
the boys have teams that play football, basketball and more recently
kick-boxing.
APPEAL: Whilst the centre has been improving year on
year with the help of funding, there is still a lot to do before it is fully
renovated and self-sufficient.
Added to the current programme of renovation works, there is
now an urgent need for a new well to provide water. Due to the climate change the current well is
no longer able to provide clean water.
The likely cost of the well, complete with a solar pump to take the
water up to a storage tower, is approximately £1500. If we are unable to provide the means for a
new well then the boys will have to collect water on a daily basis from the
nearest local water point over 2km away.
Additionally the centre has the capacity to grow and hold
upto 50 boys. To achieve this new dorms
are required and the kitchen renovation programme needs to be completed. It would also be useful if a workshop could
be provided to help the boys learn new skills which will benefit them in adult
life, as well as keep costs down at the centre.
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With your support we can help renovate the centre
and help these vulnerable children to have a future
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A list of some of the items required to help with the renovation or
providing water is available by contacting admin@moneyformadagascar.org
WILL YOU BRING HOPE?
HELP SUPPORT THE PEOPLE OF MADAGASCAR
TO PROTECT THEIR FRAGILE FORESTS AND
BUILD SUSTAINABLE RESILIENT LIVELIHOODS
Money for Madagascar aims to enable Malagasy people to reduce poverty and protect the environment through sustainable, community-led initiatives.
Money for Madagascar (MfM) is a UK registered charity, founded in 1986 by Swansea Quakers. This year we are celebrating 200 years of friendship between the UK and Madagascar - 200 years of dedicated British and Malagasy people working together to support health, education and conservation in Madagascar. We would like to invite you to continue this tradition by supporting the work of Money for Madagascar. Please consider running a special collection or a fundraising event in support of our work. Feel free to use this poster for your appeal. If you need further information for fundraising please check our website and blog or email us on admin@moneyformadagascar.org. Please remember our cards, calendars and alternative gifts can be purchased from our website shop www.moneyformadagascar.org or by using our paper brochure.
Appeal for Money for Madagascar
85% of the people in Madagascar survive on less than a dollar a day, and 50% suffer from hunger and malnutrition. With half the population under 18 years of age, there are increasingly more mouths to feed which puts pressure on Madagascar’s natural resources such as water, food, land and forests. Half of Madagascar’s forests have been destroyed in the last 50 years. We believe the quest for sustainable, resilient livelihoods for the Malagasy population is inseparable from the need to protect Madagascar’s flora and fauna. This is the context and constant challenge of MfM’s work.
Natural disasters and climate change are now a serious threat to fragile Madagascar. In 2017 almost 1 million Malagasy people were brought to the brink of famine by the El Niño drought. Madagascar is hit by cyclones every year. Ravaging winds and floods destroy homes, crops and livelihoods.
MfM is working with vulnerable communities to help them build resilient livelihoods. Forest communities are uniting to protect and even replant their unique rainforests. This can be win-win for the wildlife and the farmers, as reforestation restores habitats for endangered animals like lemurs and reforestation restores topsoil needed to produce food and craft materials. MfM believes in working with communities over the long-term, helping them to adapt and grow stronger. In response to natural disasters and climate change, emergency relief is followed by longer-term programmes to help communities build their resilience and restore their environment.
As well as supporting farmers and forest communities MfM has a particular concern with helping Madagascar's most vulnerable children. We do this through two programmes, one that supports centres for destitute and homeless children in and around the capital; and another that focusses on improving conditions in isolated rural primary schools. In all the communities where MfM works we believe in sticking with people for the long-term. Sharing the struggles and successes…. working together for a brighter future. Please help us to raise funds to continue our vital work. Here are some examples of projects that you could help us with:
With ‘Association Mitsinjo’ we are saving endemic lemur species from extinction by replanting the rainforest. Planting wild-life corridors around the Andasibe National Park will provide endangered lemur populations with access to new territory. Using up to 60 different varieties of endemic tree we aim to plant 20,000 trees this year, working towards a goal of restoring 290 hectares of primary forest. By investing in environmental educational and community livelihood activities we help to protect the trees long-term.
£100 could cultivate, plant, maintain protect 20 rainforest trees.
MfM’s ‘Education for Life’ Programme offers children in remote rural areas the chance to access a decent education by tackling key obstacles to educational success in Madagascar. Providing teacher training & resources; improving health, sanitation, nutrition; and developing sustainable income generating activities are key elements of the programme:
£60 could buy seeds and tools to start a kitchen garden to provide food for a school canteen.
£2200 could buy a school water pump giving children access to safe clean water.
In 2017 Madagascar’s subsistence farmers were devastated by drought followed by cyclone and flooding. Local NGO WTDM is working with MfM to help farming communities on the outskirts of the capital to rebuild their livelihoods. WTDM is helping families to increase their resilience to climatic extremes by encouraging them to diversify their livelihoods and adopt a range of sustainable, adapted agricultural techniques:
£120 could pay for one family to receive training and materials to switch to climate-resilient agricultural practices.
To make a donation please give to your local collection or donate direct to MfM online or by cheque.
Donate online at www.moneyformadagascar.org/make-a-donation/
Please make cheques payable to ‘Money for Madagascar’ and send to MFM, LANGTHWAITE HOUSE, LANCASTER, LA2 9EB, UK.
