Crossing The Sands

If you are thinking about joining us on our Stride into the Tide why not take a listen to this BBC feature on  Crossing The Sands of Morecambe Bay http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qw8m5

There are still a few places left if you want to join us. Advanced booking is essential. Contact irenee@moneyformadagascar.org.

Stride into the Tide

Join us for a knees-up in Morecambe Bay! 

 Back by popular demand…. MfM supporters will once again stride into the tide of Morecambe Bay on the 14th of July 2013. Our last stride across Morecambe’s alluring quick sands raised over £3000 to fund education for boys locked up in Toamasina prison.

This year we have booked the ‘Queen’s Guide to the Sands’ to accompany an exclusive party of Akany Avoko and MfM supporters on this iconic adventure.This is a rare opportunity to step out onto the shimmering sands of Morecambe Bay, admire the backdrop of majestic mountains and maybe find some Ambergris (Whale sick!). This beachcomber’s jackpot is highly valued by the perfume industry. Last week a beachcomber found a piece of Ambergris worth £100,000 in Morecambe Bay! So keep your eyes peeled.

As well as being a fun day for a good cause this is a golden opportunity not to be missed. This year our guide, Cedric Robinson, is celebrating 50 years of guiding people across Morecambe's infamous sinking sands. Although the sea air has clearly defied Cedric from aging, one day, sooner or later, Cedric will retire, taking with him the secret of the sands and the art of how to cross them. 

Places on the walk are in high demand with supporters from Cambridge, Oxford, London,  The Wirral, Llangadog and Madagascar already signed up. Local Lancastrians aged 8 to 80 are also limbering up - including parties from Lancaster Girls Grammar School, Quernmore Primary School, University of Cumbria Pre-school, Lancaster Millenium Choir and Lancaster Quakers.

Please do support the big MfM Stride into the Tide on the 14^th of July either by joining us for the knees-up or sponsoring someone else to get their pants wet!  Advanced booking is essential by contacting irenee@moneyformadagascar.org. More details will soon be featured on the Events page of this blog. 

Happy New Year 2013! Tratra ny Taona 2013!

In Madagascar it is never too late to say ‘tratra ny taona’ or 

‘happy new year’. 

Street children see in the new year with a party.
What are their hopes for 2013?

Since the arrival of the New Year it has been heartening to share greetings of support and hope with our tireless and determined partners who are steeling themselves for the year ahead. Working with the destitute and downtrodden is no picnic. But the Malagasy have great resilience and a wonderful capacity for finding joy in adversity. 

With your support our partners can offer people a new start this new year. Whether you help us to plant a tree, get a child into school, train a teacher, or perform life-saving surgery, your kindness in 2013 will produce benefits that will last decades. Thank you for joining us to make 2013 a happy new year.

Live and Clicking!

The new Money for Madagascar website is now ready for you to enjoy. 

After perusing presents in the on-line shop we hope you will enjoy discovering more about how we use your donations in Madagascar.

So have a click, and see what you can find! 

www.moneyformadagascar.org 

Support Development in Madagascar whilst you shop!

Supporting a charity whilst Christmas shopping is only a mouse-click away...

Christmas is one of the busiest times for shoppers and shopkeepers alike as we search for those special presents for our loved ones. Increasingly online shopping is being used for quick and convenient ordering without having to leave the house.

Christmas is also a busy time for fundraisers like Money for Madagascar as we try to tap into the Christmas spirit with sales of Christmas cards and calendars, and appeals for special projects through donations and Alternative gifts.  Much of this is also done online. 

Recently several schemes have been set up to help shoppers raise money for their favourite charities simply by shopping online. It's simple, thousands of stores have signed up to donate a percentage of every online purchase to charity - at no cost to the shopper.

For every purchase that you make a small % goes to your named charity. It’s amazing how quickly you can build up quite a donation to your favoured charity. Have you thought of supporting Money for Madagascar in this way?

Online shopping is now a part of everyday life. We aren’t trying to promote online shopping over local shops because, as we know from our work in Madagascar, it’s also important to support local enterprise.  However, many small shops and enterprises also rely on online sales for much of their business.  So if you already shop online for such things as your weekly shop, presents, clothing, DVDs, electrical and domestic goods why not turn your normal purchases into a fundraising activity at the same time? 

By nominating your favoured charity from over 200,000 charities you can donate with every purchase you make - at no additional cost to you. We would be very grateful if you would help us to raise funds by shopping for Money for Madagascar.

Two companies that our supporters already use are:

• Give as you live:   www.giveasyoulive.com 
• All you have to do is download Give as you Live (it is totally secure and it takes only a few seconds to register a password and username) and then you can shop online using the same stores that you already use.
• Easyfundraising: http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/moneyformadagascar.
• To raise funds you just log in before you start shopping, using the username and password you have chosen, and up to 15% from each purchase can be donated to Money For Madagascar.

Happy Shopping!

Don't Panic!

The 30^th of November sees tireless fundraisers (and previous cover stars of this very blog!) Lancaster’s “Millennium Choir” premier their latest production “Eight Songs for Everyday Emergencies” in support of Akany Avoko Children’s Shelter in Madagascar.

Ever wondered how to perform a tracheotomy? Or land a plane? The Millennium Choir will tell you how, along with other survival tips, in their own unique way. They'll even solve the banking crisis - now surely that's worth a small £7 investment?!

With support from Take Three jazz trio and Bivocal banjo/piano accordion duo the event, at the Gregson Community Centre, Lancaster, will also feature a craft stall selling Malagasy crafts in support of MfM-sponsored projects.

Composer Andy Whitfield and The Millennium Choir in action

Tickets are £7/£5 on the door so “tongava maro” (come in large numbers) as they say in Madagascar and enjoy a fantastic evening’s entertainment, support a worthy Malagasy cause, and pick up some priceless survival tips into the bargain!

Visit the event’s facebook page here: www.facebook.com/events/450573721661594 to learn more...

or visit The Gregson Community Centre's website: www.gregson.co.uk for more details of the venue and how to get there.

Email irenee@moneyformadagascar.org with any other questions - we look forward to seeing you there!

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.

Madagascar Bird Life Calendar Takes Off!

MfM has just launched its new Madagascar Birdlife Calendar 2013.  Made up of stunning photos donated by the wildlife photographer Mike Harrison, the calendar celebrates the beauty and diversity of Madagascar’s birdlife much of which, as with all the country’s flora and fauna, is endangered. 

Calendar Sneak Preview

Madagascar Pygmy Kingfisher (Ispidina madagascariensis) 

A diminutive (15cm) Kingfisher endemic to the forests of Madagascar. 

The calendar also tells success stories from 26 years of Money for Madagascar’s work supporting low-cost, community led initiatives in the big red island.  The stories show the many ways in which MfM has made a radical difference to the lives of individuals, families and communities.

 Calendar Sneak Preview

Thanks to sponsorship, Malala has a loving home at Akany Avoko and enjoys fun and  stimulating lessons at La Source Special Needs School.

This is a unique calendar that will be treasured by anyone who loves wildlife – and particularly by birdwatchers. Please feel free to copy this to birdwatching friends – or perhaps put them on your Christmas list for a calendar! Calendars are £8.50 each inclusive of UK postage & packaging or £10 to be sent outside the UK. To order a calendar please send a cheque payable to ‘Money for Madagascar’ to Madagascar Calendars, 15 Kelly’s Drive, Oxford, OX331NT.  Alternatively you can order your calendars on-line from www.moneyformadagascar.org when our new shop goes live in November. 

 Legendary Birds of Madagascar

Tales of exotic and unique species of birds in Madagascar have been around for many centuries. In the thirteenth century Marco Polo described the giant rukh of enormous size with a wing span of thirty paces and the strength to lift an elephant. This is the stuff of folklore but there is a morsel of truth in the tale from the Arabian Nights of the great egg, as big as a house, found by Sinbad the Sailor which, when broken, brought fury and destruction to his ship.  Viewers of David Attenborough’s  ‘Zoo Quest’ will recall his discovery of hundreds of broken egg shells in a dry river bed in Madagascar’s south. Painstaking reconstruction showed them to be the remnants of the eggs of the flightless elephant bird, the Aepyornis.  Ostrich-like and up to ten feet tall, it was the heaviest bird ever to have lived.  

While folklore will have played its part in exaggerating the size and power of the Aepyornis, there is no doubt that the creature is now extinct. Not so with several of Madagascar’s birds today. Many, like the Madagascar Pochard, have been reported extinct only to be rediscovered in small numbers a few years later.  Several of the birds featured in the calendar are endangered and face a perilous future.

Money for Madagascar believes that a bright future awaits both the Malagasy people and the island’s rich bio-diversity if they can co-exist in harmony.  Our commitment is to strive, with your help, to make this a reality.  Each calendar sold will raise £3.50 towards changing lives and conserving biodiversity in Madagascar.

Way Out of Sex Trap

Today AllAfrica.com described how thousands of Malagasy girls are turning to sex-work to survive, with as many as 1 in 7 of the population working in the sex industry in the port town of Toamasina.

MfM runs training programmes for teenaged girls to give them an alternative to sex-work. Here girls receive food, medical care, academic education and vocational training.

 Our next big drive is to help girls to set up their own micro-entreprise so they can earn a decent living. It cost £50-£100 to set a girl up with the equipment she needs to run a business like renting solar lights, hairdressing, dressmaking, selling food, or renting out a phone. 

This skilled sewing student was awarded a machine to start a dress-making business with her family.

This week we were delighted to hear that MfM supporter Andy Whitfield was celebrating a Big Birthday. We were even more thrilled when he announced that he would like people to make donations to MfM in lieu of birthday presents! This wonderful gesture has raised enough money to fund new businesses for five destitute teenaged girls. What a brilliant birthday legacy!

Thank you!

If you missed the story about Andy's choir raising their voices for Akany Avoko scroll down to the post about 'Unsung Heroes'.

To learn more about the struggles of teenaged girls in Madagascar follow the link
  Sex for Survival

Money For Madagascar is proud to support the silk worm project of CIPALI, which helps subsistence farmers to generate income whilst restoring the rainforest. Follow the link below to hear Fullbright Catherine Craig's 20 minute lecture about her work with CIPALI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK6PxSfIcDQ