Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
The early years had their problems, particularly in the area of communicating with and
monitoring our projects. Before the advent of computers it took weeks to get
information to and from Madagascar and many problems arose as a result. I remember
perceiving the fax machine when it arrived as one of the wonders of the world! Today
we can have a reply from our partners within minutes thanks to E-mail. We are very
pleased that our early principle: that the Malagasy people contribute the ideas and the
manpower while we provide the money and oversight, has proved fruitful for so long.
The Money for Madagascar team
Money for Madagascar is run by a team of eleven people consisting of ten unpaid trustees
and one salaried development worker. They are central to achieving our key objective as a
charity: to ensure that as much money as possible goes to support innovative, sustainable
locally-led projects in Madagascar. This team is responsible for assessing the viability of the
proposals that we receive from our Malagasy partners, allocating funds and verifying the
outcomes of the projects once completed.
The Money for Madagascar Team: (r-l): Timothy King, Steve Wilkinson, Stuart Cassie, Martin
Wilkinson, Theresa Haine, Mike Cherry, Irenée Rajaona-Horne, Jan Kirby, Gwen Evans, Chris
Sewell, and Bernadette King.
This model only works thanks to the depth and breadth of experience that our trustees
and development worker bring with them. Every one of them has either lived and worked
in Madagascar or boasts extensive experience of development work, fundraising, business
or management. This practical experience, cultural awareness and love for the Red Island
and its people is critical to identifying the right projects to support and ensuring that our
donor’s money is spent safely and effectively.
Lifetimes of experience
Working with the people of Madagascar has truly
been a lifetime commitment for some of our
team. Pictured here are MfM trustees who, as
fresh-faced youngsters, embarked for Madagascar
as volunteers more than forty years ago and
continue to support the people of Madagascar
today. See if you can spot them in the present
day photo above! Between them we estimate
that our trustees have almost 200 years of
experience of development work in Madagascar.
Our patrons
One of the secrets of our success is the backing of a group of patrons with unparalleled
knowledge of international development, the environment, and Madagascar itself. Few
organisations can be fortunate enough to be able to call upon the support and advice of
such a prestigious and knowledgeable group, each with world-class expertise in one or
more of the fields within which we work.
Rt Hon Lord Anderson of Swansea was Labour MP for Monmouth from
1966 to 70, and Swansea East from 1974 to 2005. He was made a life peer in
2005 and throughout his career has remained deeply involved in international
affairs, most recently as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee
(1997-2005).
Hilary Bradt MBE has visited Madagascar around 25 times since her first trip
in 1976, mostly as a tour leader. She lectures, broadcasts and writes about the
joys and perils of travelling in Madagascar and other countries. She is also the
founder of Bradt Travel Guides. Her Bradt Guide to Madagascar is now in its
10th edition. She was appointed MBE in the 2008 Birthday Honours for
services to the tourist industry and to charity.
Sir Mervyn Brown KCMG is a former British ambassador to Madagascar li
and the author of the seminal books “Madagascar Rediscovered” and “A
History of Madagascar”. While living there he and his wife learned to play
Malagasy music and won several tennis championships. He is the President of
the Anglo-Malagasy Society, a member of the Academie Malgache and one of
the world’s foremost authorities on the Red Island.
Dr Lee Durrell is Honorary Director of the internationally renowned
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. A specialist in animal behaviour and
communication, she researched her PhD on Madagascar in the early 1970s. As
well as co-authoring a number of books with her husband Gerald Durrell she
is an author in her own right. “State of the Ark“ is a reference work on issues
facing conservationists and methods of tackling environmental problems.
The success of the projects that we fund is only possible thanks to a network of trusted Malagasy
development partners established over more than 25 years.
Our beneficiaries
Education...
Who we help
Using our network of partners and the experience of our trustees we provide support to
those groups of Malagasy society who suffer most from the economic and environmental
crisis that Madagascar is enduring. We also target communities who we feel have an impor-
tant part to play in tackling the key problems facing modern Madagascar. Here are the
principal groups of beneficiaries that we support :
Destitute children
Every year more than 1000 street kids receive food, education
and medical care at MfM funded drop-in centres in the capital
whilst 140 destitute kids have a safe place to live. The sixty
classrooms that we have built since 2004 are used to educate
more than 2000 children in locations across Madagascar.
Rewarding resourcefulness
We favour ideas which make the best possible
use of available resources and are proud to support
projects with an emphasis on recycling and sustainable
technologies. These include rainwater harvesting
systems, the innovative use of plastic bags and bottles,
and the production of charcoal alternative fuels.
Such solutions help reduce living costs for our
A boy waters an urban market gar- beneficiaries whilst helping to address some of the
den planted in discarded plastic bags underlying environmental issues plaguing Madagascar.
using an improvised watering-can.
Community participation
We work with Malagasy partners who involve
and empower their beneficiaries. When funding con-
struction or repair projects we ask, wherever possible
that the local community contributes land, labour and
what local materials they can gather, such as clay,
rocks or river sand to the project.
This not only keeps costs down but also engages
the commitment of the local community and authori- Villagers digging the foundations of a
ties in the project and acts as a permanent reminder of Money for Madagascar funded
what can be achieved through collective action. school in a rural community.
Keeping costs to a minimum
As a small charity we strive to ensure that the
donations that we receive provide the maximum possi-
ble benefit to the people and environment of Madagas-
car. To achieve this we keep our running costs to an
absolute minimum, operating using volunteer staff,
working from our homes and keeping our postal,
printing and administration costs low.
This “no frills” approach can be found in every This “no frills” tree-nursery
embodies our low-cost approach
aspect of our work. We do not pay the salaries and
to development and conservation.
living costs of expatriate staff to manage our projects
but instead invest in agencies run by Malagasy staff. When visiting Madagascar, our trustees
eat, live and travel as our Malagasy development partners do. Our partners also play their
part - striving to make their projects as cost-effective as possible.
A donation to us is not wasted on fleets of 4x4’s, glossy ad campaigns or irritating
mail-drops. It is sent to the motivated, trustworthy, ingenious people who need it to fund
small-scale initiatives which make a lasting difference to communities across Madagascar.
In addition to providing
critical funding for running costs,
we have also raised money to
enable La Source to take steps
towards financial independence and
long term sustainability. One such
project was the creation of an on-
site patisserie where students could
learn valuable kitchen skills whilst
the proceeds of the cakes and
pastries sold provided much needed
revenue for the school.
The work of La Source simply could not continue
without the support of Money for Madagascar. Without
this project dozens of disabled children would be con-
demned to a life excluded from their communities,
deprived of education and denied the friendship of
others.
Thanks to our supporters this oasis of progressive
education goes from strength to strength.
Bringing women together in co-operatives reinforces their skills and helps them to
lobby for decent prices for their goods. It also enables them to access larger markets to
sell their wares. On the East Coast our Partner SAF FATOAM has established co-
operatives of craft producers and fruit sellers, who are now producing for both the local
and export markets.
street children and children with disabilities. We also support the rehabilitation of offend-
ers through a prison literacy programme.
A first taste of formal education...
For many of Madagascar’s children the opportu-
nity to don a uniform and study in a classroom is
only a dream. Nowhere more is this the case
than with the thousands of street children living
homeless on the pavements of Madagascar’s ma-
jor cities. We fund a number of projects aimed at
giving these children the opportunity to join for-
Street children relishing their first
mal education for the first time. Of course no- experience of classroom study
one can study on an empty stomach so MfM also funds feeding programmes to provide
free meals for students, helping them to focus on their lessons rather than their tummies!
It would be heart-breaking if it were not for my discovery, in the 1980s, of Money for
Madagascar. I saw immediately how they were different: how donations were used to al-
low the naturally hard-working and enterprising Malagasy to achieve their goals, and how
my favourite children’s homes in Tana relied on the regular income to see them over hard
times. At the heart of their work is the knowledge that a small amount of money can make
all the difference and that conservation and poverty relief can go hand in hand. Many of
their achievements are only possible due to their relatively small size and strong grasp of
the complexity of the Malagasy culture.
I hope that this booklet has helped you feel as inspired as I am by the selfless work done by
Money for Madagascar. The country engenders a special affection in so many people; if you
can’t go there yourself, making a donation may be the next best thing. Check out the MfM
website to see how they are continuing to find ‘small solutions’ for the big problems that
face Madagascar. They will ensure that not one penny of your donation is wasted.
Helping Us
We need your support to help us continue empowering
Malagasy people to protect their own environment and
improve their communities.
Please visit our website and blog or write to us at the ad-
dress below to find out more about:
• Donating money
• Sponsoring a child or school
• Alternative gifts
• Volunteering—at home or abroad
Thank You!!
Money for Madagascar, Registered Charity No. 1001420
Address: Madagascar, Llwyncelyn Isaf, Llangadog SA19 9BY
E-mail: info@moneyformadagascar.org Telephone: 01550 777535
Website: www.moneyformadagascar.org Blog: moneyformadagascar.blogspot.com