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!

Making Dreams Come True in Madagascar: The Sisters of the Good Shepherd

We work with local Malagasy organisations to support vulnerable childrenand help them to climb out of poverty. One amazing group we work with is called The Sisters of the Good Shepherd who have been working for over a decade to help children off the streets and into education. One of the centres they run is the Fihavanana Centre in Antananarivo. Here are two stories from children who come to the centre.

  

T* is 13 and after his father died, his mother has had to bring up five children on her own. T* lives an hour away from school, and until the intervention of the Sisters, had never attended it. Thanks to their support, he has just learnt how to write the vowels A, O and I. He now can dream of being a teacher and teaching those who haven’t had a chance to attend school.

P* is 12 years old and stopped her education at year 1 of secondary school, as her mother could no longer afford it. However, thanks to the help of the Sisters she has been able to join a course for training in practical skills. This will allow her to reach her aim of being a dressmaker. P* says “I believe that my dream to have a bright future will come true one day!”

  

If you would like to know more about our partners and what they do, please visit our website www.moneyformadagascar.org

To make a donation and help us give more children access to education and training opportunities, please visit http://moneyformadagascar.org/english/make-a-donation.asp

*Names have been removed to protect the identity of the children

Written by Alfie Talks

Shining Success! How Solar Power can Spring-board a Child’s Education

A Simple Solar Panel Can Transform a Life!

Today I would like to share with you a true story of a woman with willpower and a little solar powered light. It is a story of how harnessing sunlight can help the most disadvantaged thrive.

Alone in the world, Josianne* was in her late teens and pregnant when she was rescued by Akany Avoko (a children’s home supported by Money for Madagascar). Though Josianne had no formal education, with guidance and support from the caring staff she flourished and grew into a lady with a hard-working attitude who wanted to give the most to her children. When the time came for Josianne to leave the home she was provided with a leaving pack including a small but efficient solar powered lamp.

Through Akany Avoko’s self-build programme she built her own home that initially consisted of 2 rooms built from mud-bricks with a clay tiled room, where she lived with her family. With the belief that an education would benefit her children’s future she sent them to school ‘paying’ for her daughters’ school fees by cleaning at the school one day a week.

In Madagascar, night falls at around 5.30pm and most rural homes have no lighting. Even paraffin or candle light is expensive as well as a strain on the eyes.  This can make it very difficult for children to complete their homework. However, the provision of that one solar-powered light allowed her children to complete their homework every night. In fact, they did so well at school that the youngest has now jumped ahead by 2 school years.  

“I didn’t get much chance to go to school. But I know education is so important. Soon my oldest daughter will take her Baccalaureate. I am so proud of her.”

In addition to her day job as a washer–woman, thanks to her light, Josianne was able  to do some craft production in the evenings to sell for extra income. This extra income eventually allowed her to add a second floor to her home, so she now lives in 2 rooms with her family and rents out 2 rooms. Now Josianne can feed, clothe and educate her family and put a sound roof over their head. This is a far cry from the destitution she knew as a young girl. “As a child I had nothing. I was homeless. Now my relatives turn to me for support! ” She told us with delight.

This little tale is a shining example of how a little off-grid solar light – a healthy, reliable and efficient alternative to kerosene lamps, or candles – combined with an ambitious young lady can change not only one person’s life, but can have ripples that have benefitted her family years later. Its little rays reached far out over the years!

With tonnes of sunlight in Madagascar, capturing it to benefit local communities is no brainteaser. Off-grid solar technology comes in all sorts of forms – including lamps, phone chargers and even refrigerators. Access to such products would allow rural communities with no connection to the national grid to prosper. As well as being safe, efficient and environmentally friendly energy sources, solar technology has positive impacts kick-starting social, health and economic development. Children can study safely, families can listen to the radio or watch TV for information or entertainment, farmers can receive mobile payments securely…the list goes on.

This year Money for Madagascar’s Education for Life programme will supply solar power to 34 rural primary schools enabling students to do homework and afterschool activities and also providing a much needed solar-charging service to enable parents to charge phones and solar lights. Currently thousands of children are withdrawn from school each year in Madagascar because their parents can’t afford to the pay contributions to the teacher’s modest salaries. We hope that this new solar initiative will not only support the students’ learning in school but will also raise income for each school, which can be channelled into paying teachers’ salaries. This would lift a huge financial burden from the shoulders of struggling parents meaning that children can stay in school to pursue their education.

If you feel inspired by what a simple solar panel can and you would like to help us to reach more needy people, then please contact us or donate to this project.

Thank you.

Rosemary Wilson

* (Josianne’s name has been changed to respect her privacy. The young lady in the photo is another beneficiary of our programme.) 

Madagascar: A World Apart!

We would like to alert you to Part 2 of a new 3 part series on BBC 4 called Nature’s Wonderlands: Islands of Evolution. 

Episode 2 titled “Madagascar: A World Apart” is scheduled for Monday 25^th January at 9pm. It examines how Madagascar is a natural laboratory of evolution and introduces the viewer to the amazing species that inhabit the island.

Our partner Association Mitsinjo is featured in the episode. They are involved in extending the forest corridor around Andasibe National Park.

More details from the BBC website  which highlights the following (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06yrgvr):

This series examines, “some of the crucial influences on natural selection that are normally overlooked - like geology, geography, isolation and time - the series reveals that there's much more to evolution than 'survival of the fittest'. Charting the lifecycle of islands - from their birth and colonisation to the flowering of evolutionary creativity that often accompanies their maturity, and what happens when an island grows old and nears its end - Fortey encounters wild lemurs in the rainforest of Madagascar, acid-resistant shrimps in the rock pools of Hawaii, and giant wolf spiders in Madeira as he searches for the hidden rules of island evolution.

In the second episode, Fortey travels to the rainforests of Madagascar - an ancient island that has spawned some of the most extraordinary groups of plants and animals anywhere in the world. From beautiful Indri lemurs, toxic frogs, and the cat-like giant mongoose called the fossa, to evolutionary oddities like the giraffe-necked weevil and the otherworldly aye-aye, he uncovers the secrets of the evolutionary niche - examining how, given millions of years, animals and plants can adapt to fill almost any opportunity they find.”

To find out more about the work that Association Mitsinjo does please visit: 
https://associationmitsinjo.wordpress.com/reforestation/

And to find out what we do in Madagascar and to see how you can get involved visit http://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

JANUARY SALE - 2016 CALENDAR ONLY £5!

In the 2016 calendar, Ed Kashi and Ailie Tam offer glimpses of a beautiful country where life continues to be hard (though not always miserable!) for those eking out a living against the odds of poverty, environmental change and global warming.

For UK customers, calendars are now reduced to only £5 (including p&p)!

Every purchase helps to support the work of our partners who are tackling many of the key issues facing Madagascar today including: extreme poverty, loss of bio-diversity, poor health, lack of food security and limited access to education.

To make an order please shop online at MfM SHOP

Thank you for your support!

Seasons Greetings!

Money for Madagascar and all its Partners working at the grassroots would like to wish you all 

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Miarahaba anao nahatratra ny Krismasy 2015. Mirary taona vaovao 2016 feno fiadanana. 

Thank you for your interest, support and encouragement.

Jane’s swim makes a BIG SPLASH in Madagascar…

Last July, one of our supporters Jane Lawrence swam a mile across Ullswater Lake (Lake District, UK) with the hope of raising enough money to install water facilities into a primary school in the Malagasy highlands. Jane raised an amazing £600!

As a result of Jane’s efforts and the kind donations of those supporting her, the children at Ambohidava Catholic Primary School now have access to a working tap which provides them with clean, safe water. 

Money for Madagascar’s ‘Education for Life’ Programme aims to provide clean water to schools, not only for drinking, but also to help them grow food in their own gardens. The dry season in Madagascar’s highlands means over 6 months without rainfall. Lack of water is a real challenge to anyone trying to supplement their diet by growing fruit and vegetables. 

Happily, the newly installed water facilities allow the school to irrigate their land which means the crops have a longer growing season, providing more important nutrition for hungry school children. This is exactly what Jane’s swim has done for Ambohidava Catholic Primary School. The school tells us that the kids are "happy to be drinking water and watering their crops. As well as vegetables and fruit, we also grow lemon grass and Comfrey . The lemongrass makes a nice tea to settle the stomach and is also good to keep the mosquitoes away. The Comfrey is great to eat like spinach and we can also make an insecticide from it to protect our crops.It even has medicinal properties too. We are very excited about our fruit trees. We keep watering them every day so that one day soon we can enjoy their fruit.”

To find out more about what we do and to see how you can get involved visit http://www.moneyformadagascar.org/. To make a donation and help us give more children access to clean water visit http://moneyformadagascar.org/english/make-a-donation.asp

by Gregg Smith

Wonderful Nature and Wonderful Work – An Evening with Rainbow Tours at the Royal Geographical Society in London

Irenee at the RGS Event

On Wednesday 25^th November, an eager audience at the Royal Geographical Society were taken on a tour of Madagascar. This was not an average tour but a blend of the beautiful and the beastly, fantasy and reality, and the good work going on to keep this wonderful country and its inhabitants better protected.

The main speakers of the event were Hilary Bradt, who wrote the first English-Language travel guide to Madagascar in 1986, and Irenee Rajaona-Horne, our very own director of Money for Madagascar.

Hilary Bradt

Hilary Bradt has gathered the outlook of a complete expert over her many years travelling to Madagascar, and both her talk – and her slideshow – were utterly enticing. We were shown nature’s most bizarre works, from the twig-nosed snake to the fingernail-sized Brookesia Chameleon. A lovely reminder at the end was Hilary exclaiming “I came to Madagascar for the wildlife, but it was the people who took my heart”.

Julian Cooke, Irenee, Micheline and Tabitha

Now 1986 was a very good year, because it was also the birth year of Money for Madagascar – an organisation that has worked relentlessly for almost 30 years to help the people of Madagascar to enjoy better livelihoods through supporting local NGOs and their inspiring initiatives. Recognising the interconnectedness of all aspects of life, Irenee’s speech centred around how MfM has specialised in helping the most vulnerable (those living in biodiversity hotspots, isolated villages, and destitute children in cities) to work with the environment around them to achieve true sustainability and well-being. Indeed, she mentioned a study they conducted over three years with 49 Malagasy families, whereby on average those who had been involved with MfM had doubled their income over the time period. The message had been made clear by the participants themselves, she quoted: “the work of Money for Madagascar is essential”.

Rainbow Tours

Irenee’s quick tour of the work of MfM was an encouraging addition to the evening, adding to the beauty and the wonders of Madagascar with a close-up on the pivotal work being done to help all of those in need. Thanks to Rainbow tours for hosting such an delightful and enlightening evening. 

To support the work of MfM with vulnerable children, communities in environmental hotspots and isolated rural communities please donate. Thank you!

Mark Robinson

Wonderful nature and Wonderful work – an Evening with Rainbow Tours at the Royal Geographical Society in London

On Wednesday 25^th November, an eager audience at the Royal Geographical Society were taken on a tour of Madagascar. This was not an average tour but a blend of the beautiful and the beastly, fantasy and reality, and the good work going on to keep this wonderful country and its inhabitants better protected.

The main speakers of the event were Hilary Bradt, who wrote the first English-Language travel guide to Madagascar in 1986, and Irenee Rajaona-Horne, our very own director of Money for Madagascar.

Hilary Bradt has gathered the outlook of a complete expert over her many years travelling to Madagascar, and both her talk – and her slideshow – were utterly enticing. We were shown nature’s most bizarre works, from the twig-nosed snake to the fingernail-sized Brookelia Chameleon. A lovely reminder at the end was Hilary exclaiming “I came to Madagascar for the wildlife, but it was the people who took my heart”.

Now 1986 was a very good year, because it was also the birth year of Money for Madagascar – an organisation that has worked relentlessly for almost 30 years to help the people of Madagascar to enjoy better livelihoods through supporting local NGOs and their inspiring initiatives. Recognising the interconnectedness of all aspects of life, Irenee’s speech centered around how MfM has specialised in helping the most vulnerable (those living in biodiversity hotspots, isolated villages, and destitute children in cities) to work with the environment around them to achieve true sustainability and well-being. Indeed, she mentioned a study they conducted over three years with 49 Malagasy families, whereby on average those who had been involved with MfM had doubled their income over the time period. The message had been made clear by the participants themselves, she quoted: “the work of Money for Madagascar is essential”.

Irenee’s quick tour of the work MfM do was an encouraging addition to the evening, adding to the beauty in the wonders of Madagascar with the pivotal work being done to help all of those in need. Thanks to Rainbow tours for hosting the event that pulled these two important messages together and opened several eyes!

by

Mark Robinson

MfM launches Education4Life programme in collaboration with Adsum!

Hands up for 'Education4Life'! 

MfM is excited to announce a collaboration with the Northern Irish foundation Adsum to deliver a joint programme to 34 rural schools over the next three years. The new 'Education4Life' programme aims to improve the life prospects of Madagascar's children by enabling them to access a decent education, providing them with the thinking skills and practical knowledge required to support themselves and cope with societal challenges ahead. 

The 'Education4Life' programme is designed to help communities overcome the major obstacles to educational success for Malagasy children : 

• Poor teaching from under-skilled and under-motivated teachers;
• Total lack of teaching materials and resources; 
• Hunger and consequent inability to concentrate or learn.
• Absence from school due to illness;
• Parental inability to pay school fees.

 Each participating school will benefit from:

• Quality teacher training.
• New teaching materials and a school resource library.
• Training in improved sustainable food production techniques to encourage food security and improved child nutrition.
• A new school kitchen garden providing food for school lunches and potentially a surplus to raise school funds.
• A worm composting unit to ensure soil quality and provide a source of school income.
• A new school canteen providing pupils with regular hot school meals made from garden produce.
• Solar panels providing electricity, light and a source of school income
• Improved sanitation facilities and the promotion of good hygiene practices.
• Activities to engage with parents and help them face the challenge of meeting school costs.

We are looking forward to seeing a huge improvement in the learning opportunities of children in communities with schools built by MfM and Adsum. Over the next few years 'Education4life'  will be equipping thousands of children to climb out of poverty .