Pastor Helivao’s Recent Visit to MfM in Lancaster

One of Money for Madagascar’s long-standing partners Pastor Helivao has just completed a visit to our Lancaster office in the UK. She works with street children, abused and battered women, the homeless, prostitutes, drug addicts and epileptics in around the capital Antananarivo and certain coastal parts of Madagascar. The picture above is of Helivao with a young person who she rescued from the street when he was about nine years old. He has now passed his baccalaureate!

Helivao was able to join the staff and trustees for various meetings and shared some of her thoughts about the relief and reconstruction work that is being carried out in Madagascar in the wake of Cyclone Chedza. She told us of how she and a family that she was trying to help were very nearly drowned when the river burst its banks and the low lying parts of the capital were suddenly engulfed in a surge of water.  She had to make a hole in the roof of the shack and they all had to climb up on a table with their heads through the hole.  The water came up to their waists even then. Fortunately the army had been called in to help and she passed the baby out first, then the soldiers managed to pull her and the rest of the family out through the roof!

The Cyclone Chedza appeal has now raised over £6,000 and part of this money has gone to support the cyclone relief work of Pastor Helivao.  We have been encouraged and inspired by her visit and would like to continue to support her relief work alongside the many regular projects that she and her team oversee.

Please donate whatever you can today! Thank you!

Either use the link below to just giving:
https://www.justgiving.com/Tabitha-Middleton/

or visit our website:
http://moneyformadagascar.org/english/make-a-donation.asp

It all started with a stripey tail!

Swansea Supporter!

I was in the train and using 3 hours of enforced idleness to knit a lemur soft toy to raise funds for MfM. We had reached Cardiff and I had got as far as knitting the tail when a crowd of men entered our carriage. The two who sat down opposite me were fascinated by the black and white stripey tail and it turned out that they were builders on their way home from work on the new Cardiff Children’s Hospital and were keen Swansea City football club fans. The club colours are black and white as everyone knows.

One of the men’s wives was expecting their first child in January and his friends thought that a Swansea scarf would be a good present for the baby so they pressed £10 on me and asked me to knit one. They didn’t know me from Adam (or should it be Eve?) and probably thought that they would never hear from me again.

I am delighted to have proved them wrong and have posted the scarf, plus a little bobble hat as a bonus, to the future dad. I hope there will be a sequel to this story in a picture of the baby, wearing both hat and scarf. 

Watch this space!

Theresa Haine

Meditate for Madagascar!

Meditate for Madagascar

Are you interested in Madagascar and the world of yoga and meditation? If so there is a chance to combine both worlds by attending a meditative sit-in!

Our supporter Laura Sewell attends yoga and meditation groups in Oxford and wherever else she can get to. Recently she started raising funds for MfM by selling Malagasy vanilla at a local alternative health centre in Oxford. This has raised both funds and interest in Madagascar. The fundraising idea has caught on and members of local yoga and meditation groups are holding a ‘Meditation Sit-in’ to raise funds for four charities including MfM. The organisers, Teresa Kay, Neville Dowley and Anita Lewis describe the event as follows:

‘We are organising a meditative sit-in. We want to bring together as many meditators as possible to practice with a collective attitude of kindness and well-wishing; and also to experience the benefits of big group practice and help build our meditative community. People from any tradition or none are welcome and whatever your style of practice we can meet in silence. There will be no formal teaching; the event will be led by Anita Lewis and Neville Dowley. It will raise money for the following charities: 

    Rokpa UK (www.rokpauk.org)

    Money for Madagascar (www.moneyformadagascar.org)

    Refugee Resource (www.refugeeresource.org) 

    Prison Phoenix Trust (www.theppt.org.uk)

Date and Time: 18th April 6.30-9.00pm

Venue: Wytham Village Hall, Oxford, OX2 8QA.

Website: www.wytham-village-hall.org.uk

Cost: By donation on the night

Please bring anything you need to sit comfortably. There will be chairs available.

Tea will be provided.

Please let Teresa Kay know by email  (dowleykay@gmail.com )  if you plan to attend. Please forward this email to any meditators that you know who might like to join us. We would love to have as big a group as possible.’

So, whether you are new to meditation or an experience practitioner, why not have a go and support MfM at the same time. 

Money for Madagascar seeks a new Chair

Money for Madagascar is looking for a new Chair to provide strategic leadership as we embark on a new phase of development in Madagascar as well as in the UK. 

Could you be the Chair we need to help us grow and increase the impact we have in Madagascar? Do you have the skills to lead and guide us?

We are essentially a funding body with recent expenditure in the region of £250,000 per year. We are engaged in a holistic programme providing funding for clean water and sanitation; disaster relief; health, education and welfare; environmental sustainability and individual and community enterprise.  The role of Chair is an honorary position, with reasonable expenses paid. Our new office is based in Lancaster, UK, but our 12 trustees are spread across the UK so it is not essential for the Chair to be based in North West England.

Please see further details about this position and the charity’s work in general on our website: www.moneyformadagascar.org (see Support Us and Vacancies and Volunteering Opportunities pages)

If this opportunity might interest you we would be delighted to send you details. If this is not for you, but you may know a potential applicant, we would be very grateful if you would pass this on to interested parties.  Deadline for applications: 7^th April 2015. For further details and an application pack please contact: admin@moneyformadagascar.org

URGENT APPEAL FOR FUNDS AFTER CYCLONE HITS MADAGASCAR

Thousands of homes have been destroyed in the flood waters

This January, Tropical Cyclone Chedza has brought death, destruction and misery to Madagascar, hitting the island with a lethal combination of high winds and heavy rain. As the rains lashed down, rivers burst their banks and vast areas of the country were left under water. Saturated soils gave way to landslides. Schools, homes, roads, and bridges were washed away. The death toll is currently 63, but 130,000 people have been displaced, their villages damaged or destroyed and their crops ruined by the flood waters.

There has been severe flooding in most of the country, the worst affected regions being, Menabe, Melaky, Boeny, Mahajanga, Analamanga and the south eastern part of the Island. Significant flooding in the capital, Tana, is giving rise to serious sanitation problems with raw sewerage flowing through water filled homes.

It takes weeks for the flood waters to recede leaving thousands homeless and hungry

Even in a wealthy country like ours, where most people have home insurance and there is government support, we have witnessed the havoc that can be wreaked by flooding. In a country like Madagascar, where most people are living on less than $2 per day and relying on their own produce for survival, there is no safety net for those who lose their homes and crops.

Several of MfM’s Malagasy partner NGOs have written appealing for urgent funds to meet the immediate needs of those most affected by the cyclone, over the next three months. Many of the communities and groups that we work with have been seriously affected by the cyclone. With your support we can help some of the thousands of homeless and hungry who need food and shelter, as well as, basic health care and sanitation, whilst they contemplate rebuilding their lives. We can contribute to practical actions such as, clearing roads and evacuating dangerous areas. Once the waters have subsided we can supply the seeds that will be needed so that people can replant their crops. However, all this work requires extra finance.

MfM has a strong history of responding to our Malagasy communities in times of emergency. We always provide support based on the needs identified by our partners on the ground. Although the work we support emphasises long term goals, such as disaster resilience, in a crisis, immediate needs must be met. A child can be provided a nutritious hot meal for as little as 5 pence per day! Whatever we are able to give will make a real difference to people’s lives. By responding to their immediate needs, we are giving them the capacity to begin on the road to long term resilience.

Please donate whatever you can today! Thank you!

Either use the link below to just giving:

https://www.justgiving.com/Tabitha-Middleton/

or visit our website:

http://moneyformadagascar.org/english/make-a-donation.asp

Flooding in Madagascar caused by Tropical Storm Chedza

                

People and rice fields near Tana affected by Cyclone Chedza

Irenee Rajaona-Horne, MfM’s Development Officer and Ian Williams CEO of Caplor Horizons have just returned from a short trip to Madagascar to develop MfM’s ‘education for life programme’. Whilst there they witnessed the devastation caused by tropical storm Chedza that has brought with it heavy rains and lashing winds. The severe storm hit landfall on the 16^th of January 2015 and has so far left 51 people dead and affected more than 120,000 people. Many of these people have been left homeless, with little access to food supplies, shelter and safe drinking water. As you can see from the pictures, rice fields have been severely affected by the flooding. Apart from this threat to livelihoods, the danger of water-borne diseases such as Cholera and Typhoid is on the rise, especially in urban areas where low-lying dwellings are now awash with raw sewerage. Our partners across Madagascar are ready to help those in most acute need. We are hoping to send funds out to alleviate immediate needs (food and medical supplies) and also help with medium to long term solutions (for example through provision of seeds for planting new crops).  

If you would like to make a contribution to the MfM cyclone relief appeal, please click on the following link:

http://www.moneyformadagascar.org/english/make-a-donation.asp 

Starting to think about gifts for winter and Christmas?

 

The MfM calendar, Christmas cards and alternative gifts will soon be available from our on-line shop on the MfM website www.moneyformadagascar.org

Advanced orders can be made now by email to info@moneyformadagascar.org or by post to Madagascar Calendars, Llwyncelyn Isaf, Llangadog, Carms. SA19 9BY.

On the Road in Madagascar - 2015 Calendar

 

Our beautiful calendar evokes a sense of journey for travellers in Madagascar as well as for the Malagasy people themselves. Our guest photographers this year have recently been ‘on the road’ in Madagascar and brought back colourful images of the rich diversity of Malagasy life, both human and natural.

Calendars cost just £8.50 each, inclusive of postage and packing. All proceeds will be used to fund projects and local organisations addressing the serious environmental, social and economic challenges facing       Madagascar. 

Each month of our calendar includes a stunning photograph and a short story of our life changing projects in full A4 size. A perfect way to give something back this Christmas knowing you helped make a difference to some of the poorest people in our world today by purchasing one of our lovely photographic calendars.

Opportunities to Recognise Land Rights for Local and Global Benefits

Planting a hedge helps stake claim to your land.

Since 2002 legislation that recognises Indigenous People and local community land and forest rights has been enacted.  However,  momentum has slowed since 2008 according to a new report issued by the

Rights and Resources Initiative

The reality is that the land which Indigenous People and local communities traditionally claim is much larger than that which is currently legally recognised by governments.

Research has shown how recognition of land rights of Indigenous People and local communities delivers local and global benefits.  For example, support for community forest tenure promotes carbon capture and reduces threats of deforestation by extraction companies and loggers.

More decision-making control for Indigenous People could bring both local and global benefits. The preservation of biodiversity and carbon capture in Madagascar’s unique forests could bring long term benefits for all.

Money for Madagascar has worked with forest communities for over two decades. We are now exploring new ways to gain carbon credits for the work we do with tree-planting and water installations. More information about this will be featured on our blog as plans develop. 

E Grisenthwaite

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/

Amazing Jane completes her challenge

Jane has every reason to be proud of her medal after completing her mile long challenge swim on Sunday 13^th July in Ullswater lake.

Jane says, “Thank you for your incredibly generous donations, helping to raise almost £600 for the children of Madagascar.  This is almost double my target and at such short notice! 

The sun shone and Jane swam a mile in 42 minutes which she is pretty ‘chuffed’ with.  She enjoyed every minute surrounded by the beauty of Cumbria thinking about how wonderful it will be for the children who will now have clean water in their own school yard. 

Donate here to show your appreciation for Jane’s brave efforts.

How will your money be used?  It’s going to bring clean water to a whole school and a well water supply to grow healthy vegetables and improve nutrition. 

We’re going to install a sink so the children will have somewhere to wash their hands providing easy access to clean water for the youngest child.

‘Jane’s swim will make a huge difference for children in Madagascar.

Every year children die from highly preventable diarrhoea but we’re putting an end to needless death by providing safe water. 

Thanks a million Jane, for helping us raise the money to protect young lives.’

(Irenee Development Officer for Money for Madagascar)