Madagascar
Economic Development
Updates from the Field - Changing lives in the village of Fiarenana
Updates from the FieldUpdates from the Field (or Progress Reports) on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.com by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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Recent Updates from the Field
- Nov 12, 2009 - Give More - Get More to buiilt our school
- Oct 7, 2009 - Fiadanana is implementing many changes
- Jul 9, 2009 - After the rice harvest
- Jun 5, 2009 - The Fiarenana Project
- Apr 17, 2009 - Building the new communal well
- Apr 4, 2009 - Green Challenge for Zahana from GlobalGiving
- Mar 15, 2009 - Update on Madagascar from Zahana
- Nov 24, 2008 - Making a differene in Madagascar
- Nov 14, 2008 - 2008 Challenge - the last week - an update
Give More - Get More to buiilt our school
By Markus Faigle, Jeannette Koijane - Volunteers, November 13, 2009 01:08 PM
Dear friends,
If you considered donating to Zahana again in the 2009 tax year, now (until Dec 1) might be a very good time.
Two of our current projects have been invited to join the Give More - Get More Challenge and GlobalGiving will match your contributions incrementally.
Please help us getting these matching funds. Please tell your friends and encourage them to give too.
The challenge details:
November 10 to December 1 (but ends Dec 1 at 12:59 EST, not your time zone!)
Matches are staggered based on the amount we raise, or in other words: The more of the total amount of all donations* we raise the bigger the match.
We raise up to $2,500: donations will be matched at 30%.
We raise $2,501 - $7,500: donations will be matched at 40%.
We raise more than $7,501: donations will be matched at 50%.
The three projects that raise the most money will receive additional bonuses of $5,000, $3,000, and $1,000.
* Donations up to $500 per individual will be matched by GlobalGiving, so the matching funds don't get depleted too fast.
If you considered donating to Zahana again in the 2009 tax year, now (until Dec 1) might be a very good time.
Two of our current projects have been invited to join the Give More - Get More Challenge and GlobalGiving will match your contributions incrementally.
Please help us getting these matching funds. Please tell your friends and encourage them to give too.
The challenge details:
November 10 to December 1 (but ends Dec 1 at 12:59 EST, not your time zone!)
Matches are staggered based on the amount we raise, or in other words: The more of the total amount of all donations* we raise the bigger the match.
We raise up to $2,500: donations will be matched at 30%.
We raise $2,501 - $7,500: donations will be matched at 40%.
We raise more than $7,501: donations will be matched at 50%.
The three projects that raise the most money will receive additional bonuses of $5,000, $3,000, and $1,000.
* Donations up to $500 per individual will be matched by GlobalGiving, so the matching funds don't get depleted too fast.
Links:
Pictures:
Fiadanana is implementing many changes
By Markus Faigle, Jeannette Koijane - Volunteers, October 08, 2009 11:48 AM
Hot off the digital press: Zahana and its founder Dr. Ramihanataniarivo are features in the latest issue of the University of Hawaii Magazine Malamalama (Malamalama means 'the light of knowledge' in Hawaiian). We have included the link below and we encourage you to use their “Leave a Response: feature.
With the communal water well successfully built the community is now putting all their energy into building their school. The photos we got from Madagascar are amazing and we encourage you to visit our website (link below) to witness this truly community wide effort (pictures indeed tell more than a thousand words).
Zahana is currently interviewing the candidates for teachers. As soon as the best candidate has been found in consultation with community representatives, a teacher’s training will be conducted in the village for a month.
NURSERY
The coffee seedlings have grown since the last report and are soon ready to be transplanted in time for the beginning of the rainy season. Surrounding communities have already expressed interest in growing coffee as well and have been encouraged to get in touch with the nurseryman to buy their seedlings, since Zahana is not in a position to give seedlings away for free to everybody.
GRAIN STORAGE BUILDING:
The grain or rice storage building has been finished and has been in use since the last harvest in May/June 2009. The bags in the back of the picture are the rice seeds acquired by Zahana for the rice seed bank. In the other picture the potatoes, another microcredit project from Zahana, are handed out one kilo at a time per family.
With the communal water well successfully built the community is now putting all their energy into building their school. The photos we got from Madagascar are amazing and we encourage you to visit our website (link below) to witness this truly community wide effort (pictures indeed tell more than a thousand words).
Zahana is currently interviewing the candidates for teachers. As soon as the best candidate has been found in consultation with community representatives, a teacher’s training will be conducted in the village for a month.
NURSERY
The coffee seedlings have grown since the last report and are soon ready to be transplanted in time for the beginning of the rainy season. Surrounding communities have already expressed interest in growing coffee as well and have been encouraged to get in touch with the nurseryman to buy their seedlings, since Zahana is not in a position to give seedlings away for free to everybody.
GRAIN STORAGE BUILDING:
The grain or rice storage building has been finished and has been in use since the last harvest in May/June 2009. The bags in the back of the picture are the rice seeds acquired by Zahana for the rice seed bank. In the other picture the potatoes, another microcredit project from Zahana, are handed out one kilo at a time per family.
Links:
- University of Hawaii Magazine: Malamalama 10/09
- Building their school - Slideshow
- Fiadanana Zahana web page
Pictures:
After the rice harvest
By Markus Faigle, Jeannette Koijane - Volunteers, July 09, 2009 09:07 PM
Dear friends,
We just got the latest pictures for the last site visit to the village to Fiarenana we would like to share this short update with you.
BEAN SEEDS
Since out last update bean seeds were delivered to the village. With s short growing cycle the villagers wanted to plant beans as an in-between crop in rice paddies right after the rice harvest. As great ‘nitrogen fixers’ beans could prove very beneficial for the rice paddies, besides providing another great protein source to eat.
NURSERY:
As intended the once functioning nursery has been revitalized and the former gardener, has been hired by Zahana to tend to the seedlings until they are big enough for transplanting. (See photo) The goal is that every family starts growing more coffee, so the have some for sale. To date, while they already are growing coffee successfully, all of it is consumed in the village.
MALARIA PREVENTION:
Zahana was able to get a hold of mosquito nets for every household in the village of Fiarenana. These nets have been distributed and as you can see in the photos have been received and put to good use. (see photos)
GRAIN STORAGE BUILDING:
The building has been finished and officially inaugurated (See photo). The village community wanted to wait until the arrival of Zahana to have this formal dedication. The building is now housing Zahana’s seed bank rice, some of this years rice crop that the community is currently still storing.
POTATOES:
100 kg of potatoes as seed stock was delivered and distributes in the village as requested by the community. As with beans, potatoes can be planted in the fallow rice paddies because they mature before the next rice planting season starts. This is the first time that this variety of potatoes has been introduced to Fairenana.
The next steps:
The microcredit project with poultry and may be other life stock, will be launched in Fiarenana in the spring (starting around September in the southern hemisphere).
Please check out website for more detailed updates as we get more photos.
Ihanta, Jeannette and Markus
We just got the latest pictures for the last site visit to the village to Fiarenana we would like to share this short update with you.
BEAN SEEDS
Since out last update bean seeds were delivered to the village. With s short growing cycle the villagers wanted to plant beans as an in-between crop in rice paddies right after the rice harvest. As great ‘nitrogen fixers’ beans could prove very beneficial for the rice paddies, besides providing another great protein source to eat.
NURSERY:
As intended the once functioning nursery has been revitalized and the former gardener, has been hired by Zahana to tend to the seedlings until they are big enough for transplanting. (See photo) The goal is that every family starts growing more coffee, so the have some for sale. To date, while they already are growing coffee successfully, all of it is consumed in the village.
MALARIA PREVENTION:
Zahana was able to get a hold of mosquito nets for every household in the village of Fiarenana. These nets have been distributed and as you can see in the photos have been received and put to good use. (see photos)
GRAIN STORAGE BUILDING:
The building has been finished and officially inaugurated (See photo). The village community wanted to wait until the arrival of Zahana to have this formal dedication. The building is now housing Zahana’s seed bank rice, some of this years rice crop that the community is currently still storing.
POTATOES:
100 kg of potatoes as seed stock was delivered and distributes in the village as requested by the community. As with beans, potatoes can be planted in the fallow rice paddies because they mature before the next rice planting season starts. This is the first time that this variety of potatoes has been introduced to Fairenana.
The next steps:
The microcredit project with poultry and may be other life stock, will be launched in Fiarenana in the spring (starting around September in the southern hemisphere).
Please check out website for more detailed updates as we get more photos.
Ihanta, Jeannette and Markus
Links:
Pictures:
The Fiarenana Project
By Markus Faigle, Jeannette Koijane - Volunteers, June 08, 2009 11:52 PM
Thank you to all the donors that made this project possible!
Our partners in Madagascar are delighted, humbled by your generosity and very thankful that you helped us achieve this goal in less than a year. We met our financial goal for this project with your help, allowing Zahana to expanding its participatory development activities to Fiarenana, a second village.
We hope we can count on your support for Zahana in the future, since the scope of Zahana’s activities goes beyond this project in Fiarenana and we hope to be active for years to come. Please visit our website for general updates. We will post progress reports on the GlobalGiving website, that will reach many of you in the form of an email reminder.
In the fall of 2008, Fiadanana was our initial project challenge with GlobalGiving and with your help earned us a permanent presence.
Our next site visit to Fiarenana, weather and circumstances permitting, is planned for the end of June 2009 and we hope to post more pictures about our progress.
Here is the latest update:
GRAIN STORAGE BUILDING
After officially inviting Zahana, the community in Fiarenana had already made bricks for a communal grain or rice storage building, back in 2008. The building is now built by the community. Zahana provided the corrugate roofing iron, one door, two windows and the cement for the floor and walls. With the rice harvest in full swing, this building is much needed as you read these lines.
SEED BANK
Zahana had bought one ton of rice ahead of the harvest from the villagers to serve as a seed bank for the next harvest. This seed stock, givning a new meaning to the term “seed money,” will be stored in the newly built gain storage building alongside the villager’s harvest. Traditionally many villagers sell all the rice they don't eat themselves right after the harvest for much needed cash, since this is the only source for money they have all year. When the next planting season comes around, many of them have to turn to lenders to buy rice seeds on credit for very high rates. To overcome this vicious cycle, Zahana started this seed bank project as another aspect of our micro-credit efforts.
Further community development steps decided by the community:
COFFEE
In June or July, after the rice harvest is over, the community will start planting coffee to grow more then their current subsistence harvest. The improved seeds have been sent to the village on June 2. Coffee plants take 3 to 4 years to bear fruit, so this is a long-term project and investment in the future.
SRI
Fiarenana is ready to learn more and implement SRI (System of Rice Intensification) to improve yields. The request for training came from the villagers and Zahana is delighted to facilitate such a training. SRI was developed over 20 years ago in Madagascar and has been successfully implemented in other countries as well including India or Pakistan. Please visit the comprehensive Cornell website (see links) for more information about SRI.
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
The community is also interested in introducing new verities of poultry and increasing egg production. The community is already experienced in animal husbandry with zebu cattle, pigs, rabbits and chicken and has been asked for help with micro credit to increase these activities beyond subsistence levels to start raising animals for sale.
Thank you for your support!
Ihanta, Jeannette and Markus
Our partners in Madagascar are delighted, humbled by your generosity and very thankful that you helped us achieve this goal in less than a year. We met our financial goal for this project with your help, allowing Zahana to expanding its participatory development activities to Fiarenana, a second village.
We hope we can count on your support for Zahana in the future, since the scope of Zahana’s activities goes beyond this project in Fiarenana and we hope to be active for years to come. Please visit our website for general updates. We will post progress reports on the GlobalGiving website, that will reach many of you in the form of an email reminder.
In the fall of 2008, Fiadanana was our initial project challenge with GlobalGiving and with your help earned us a permanent presence.
Our next site visit to Fiarenana, weather and circumstances permitting, is planned for the end of June 2009 and we hope to post more pictures about our progress.
Here is the latest update:
GRAIN STORAGE BUILDING
After officially inviting Zahana, the community in Fiarenana had already made bricks for a communal grain or rice storage building, back in 2008. The building is now built by the community. Zahana provided the corrugate roofing iron, one door, two windows and the cement for the floor and walls. With the rice harvest in full swing, this building is much needed as you read these lines.
SEED BANK
Zahana had bought one ton of rice ahead of the harvest from the villagers to serve as a seed bank for the next harvest. This seed stock, givning a new meaning to the term “seed money,” will be stored in the newly built gain storage building alongside the villager’s harvest. Traditionally many villagers sell all the rice they don't eat themselves right after the harvest for much needed cash, since this is the only source for money they have all year. When the next planting season comes around, many of them have to turn to lenders to buy rice seeds on credit for very high rates. To overcome this vicious cycle, Zahana started this seed bank project as another aspect of our micro-credit efforts.
Further community development steps decided by the community:
COFFEE
In June or July, after the rice harvest is over, the community will start planting coffee to grow more then their current subsistence harvest. The improved seeds have been sent to the village on June 2. Coffee plants take 3 to 4 years to bear fruit, so this is a long-term project and investment in the future.
SRI
Fiarenana is ready to learn more and implement SRI (System of Rice Intensification) to improve yields. The request for training came from the villagers and Zahana is delighted to facilitate such a training. SRI was developed over 20 years ago in Madagascar and has been successfully implemented in other countries as well including India or Pakistan. Please visit the comprehensive Cornell website (see links) for more information about SRI.
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
The community is also interested in introducing new verities of poultry and increasing egg production. The community is already experienced in animal husbandry with zebu cattle, pigs, rabbits and chicken and has been asked for help with micro credit to increase these activities beyond subsistence levels to start raising animals for sale.
Thank you for your support!
Ihanta, Jeannette and Markus
Links:
Pictures:
Building the new communal well
By Markus Faigle - Volunteer, April 18, 2009 05:25 PM
Fiarenana had great promise in becoming a model village for Zahana’s participatory approach. Rooted in Zahana’s participatory approach the community decided which project to tackle first. During the last site visit in April 2009 the villages completed reinforcing and improving the communal well. (see photos)
This well is fed by three natural spings. This location has been traditionally used as a communal water source for a long time (see photo ‘old well’). The community decided, since this well represents their history they would rather improve it that digging a new one in a different location. Although it is located outside the village, in a valley where the natural springs are the new stairs make access much easier
In keeping with Zahana’s participatory approach the villagers provided all locally available materials, such as the stones and sand and their labor. Zahana provided the cement, the water filter and the new faucets that required to be bought in town and transported to the village. (see photos)
The new water container, replacing the old well, has a capacity of 1700 liters (450 gallons). The new container is closed and therefore not exposed to debris and dirt, since the water is accessed thought the faucets. This is a vast improvement over the old bucket on a rope system. (see photos at the project description)
Please consider contributing to the Global Giving Green Challenge while the matching funds still last. And thank you, to all of you that helped us to make it to third place so far.
This well is fed by three natural spings. This location has been traditionally used as a communal water source for a long time (see photo ‘old well’). The community decided, since this well represents their history they would rather improve it that digging a new one in a different location. Although it is located outside the village, in a valley where the natural springs are the new stairs make access much easier
In keeping with Zahana’s participatory approach the villagers provided all locally available materials, such as the stones and sand and their labor. Zahana provided the cement, the water filter and the new faucets that required to be bought in town and transported to the village. (see photos)
The new water container, replacing the old well, has a capacity of 1700 liters (450 gallons). The new container is closed and therefore not exposed to debris and dirt, since the water is accessed thought the faucets. This is a vast improvement over the old bucket on a rope system. (see photos at the project description)
Please consider contributing to the Global Giving Green Challenge while the matching funds still last. And thank you, to all of you that helped us to make it to third place so far.
Links:
Pictures:
Green Challenge for Zahana from GlobalGiving
By Markus Faigle - Volunteer, April 06, 2009 12:28 PM
April 3, 2009
We have great news:
Our sister project “Solar Cookers for the School in Fiadanana” has been awarded the “Green Leaf” form GlobalGiving and invited to join their “Give a Little Green!” Challenge.
This Green Challenge is for projects by invitation only. Starting Saturday, April 4 and running through Tuesday, April 28, 2009 all donations up to $5,000 per individual made to our solar cooker project will receive an additional 50% match from GlobalGiving*.
In addition to matching funds, Zahana can compete for additional funding! The three projects receiving the greatest number of individual donations will receive extra prizes of $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000, respectively.
We need to act fast! Let’s get the matching funds as long as they last. With a minimum of $10 dollars becoming $15 with the click of the mouse, please consider donating now to our twin project in our original pilot site of Fiadanana Please tell your friends about this exciting opportunity provided by GlobalGiving in honor of the upcoming Earth Day.
Please pass this email on within your network.
Ihanta, Jeannette and Markus
PS:
Check out the website of the BlazingTubeSolarAppliance. We hope to test this innovative solar cooker in Fiadanana as part of our solar efforts as soon as possible.
* That means for every dollar you donate, Zahana will receive another $0.50. The match will be available from April 4 to April 28 only or until $25,000 in matching funds have been depleted. Even if matching funds are depleted, the challenge portion of the campaign will continue until April 28th.
We have great news:
Our sister project “Solar Cookers for the School in Fiadanana” has been awarded the “Green Leaf” form GlobalGiving and invited to join their “Give a Little Green!” Challenge.
This Green Challenge is for projects by invitation only. Starting Saturday, April 4 and running through Tuesday, April 28, 2009 all donations up to $5,000 per individual made to our solar cooker project will receive an additional 50% match from GlobalGiving*.
In addition to matching funds, Zahana can compete for additional funding! The three projects receiving the greatest number of individual donations will receive extra prizes of $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000, respectively.
We need to act fast! Let’s get the matching funds as long as they last. With a minimum of $10 dollars becoming $15 with the click of the mouse, please consider donating now to our twin project in our original pilot site of Fiadanana Please tell your friends about this exciting opportunity provided by GlobalGiving in honor of the upcoming Earth Day.
Please pass this email on within your network.
Ihanta, Jeannette and Markus
PS:
Check out the website of the BlazingTubeSolarAppliance. We hope to test this innovative solar cooker in Fiadanana as part of our solar efforts as soon as possible.
* That means for every dollar you donate, Zahana will receive another $0.50. The match will be available from April 4 to April 28 only or until $25,000 in matching funds have been depleted. Even if matching funds are depleted, the challenge portion of the campaign will continue until April 28th.
Links:
Update on Madagascar from Zahana
By Markus Faigle - Volunteer, March 16, 2009 02:36 PM
Some of you read or might soon read about Madagascar in the news. some of you contacted us already, so we wanted to send a short message.
Thanks to email, text messaging and Skype we have been in constant contact with our partners in Madagascar and they are fine. One thing becomes obvious: we have to increase our efforts in rural participatory development and education.
Zahana has been focusing on making village life more attractive and livable so people don't have to leave their village in the first place in search of a better life. This can be done for example by providing development partnerships to built access to clean water or a school for their children.
Almost a decade back Madagascar experienced a very tumultuous political situation and as a result many people fled the cities in search of safety in countryside. In the case of the village of Fiadanana, Zahana's pilot village, its population increased by 20% and after the political situation stabilized most of the newcomers decided to stay, since they discovered the advantages of the rural over the city life.
We encourage you to frequent your trusted news sources for more information. We find http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/?search=madagascar&searchheadlines=1
useful, since it lists many languages as links.
Please write to us directly if you want more information.
But despite the disturbing news out participatory development efforts in two villages in Madagascar continue.
Based on the ties established with the community of Fiarenana in October 2008 a formal meeting was held in February 2009.
To demonstrate their willingness to collaborate with Zahana they have already made 13,000 bricks for a future school building. In contrast to many other villages over 80% of the parents had gone to school as children themselves, can all read and write, and see the value and need for education for their children. The community envisions a school building that could become a leaning center for agriculture, health education and rural improvement that would function more as a rural university than a grade school in the traditional sense.
Decisions made at the February meeting:
Drinking water
As with most villages, safe drinking water is the biggest need. In this meeting it was decided to first improve the existing community well (see photos on the website) by building a permanent, covered structure, using the bricks that can support the hand pump supplied by Zahana. Since this community well represents their history and tradition, improving it was decided to be better then digging a new one.
Papaya
Each family will plant 7 papaya trees: 2 trees for the family's consumption and 5 where the fruits can be sold, either as dried fruits or fresh in the market in nearby Bevato.
SRI
The community requested training in SRI, the System of Rice Intensification. SRI was developed over two decades ago in Madagascar and can dramatically improve yields, doubling or even tripling crop yields at times. (Cornell University SRI http://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/). SRI has been very successful around the globe, but only works if a community is willing to learn about and adopt new planting techniques.
Increasing coffee production
Coffee is already grown in the village, but also consumed there. This is a great savings as cash does not leave the community to buy coffee. This cultivation will be intensified to supply neighboring villages and the community of Bevato. Traditionally farmers must supply coffee at harvest time to everybody working in their fields, so then the need for coffee is great.
Staying in touch, or the marvels of modern technology:
Staying in touch with remote village communities can be challenging when Zahana members have to travel for over 5 hours to get there, if the roads are passable and there is no mail service or busses that go there. Fortunately the village of Fiarenana has cell phone coverage.
Zahana bought a cell/mobile phone for the community of Fiarenana. They formed a committee of 4 representatives that are entitled to use it. If they have an issue to discuss with Zahana they send a text message/SMS and Zahana calls them back.
All cell phones in Madagascar only work with pre paid minutes, but incoming calls are free, since the caller pays for the calls. Therefore the cost for the villagers to talk to Zahana is minimal (just for the SMS) and Zahana pays for the minutes of the call on their end. All Zahana needs to do is to recharge the phone with more minutes every few months, so the number does not expire and there is now a direct lifeline to exchange ideas and news with Fiarenana.
But Fiarenana has no electricity. To recharge the cell phone's battery they need to walk over and hour to the next small town of Bevato to pay to get it recharged there. This service currently costs 2500 FMG (about 25 US cents) per charge with the use of a generator.
This is the first time that such a fancy high tech device has been available for the villagers.
Thanks to email, text messaging and Skype we have been in constant contact with our partners in Madagascar and they are fine. One thing becomes obvious: we have to increase our efforts in rural participatory development and education.
Zahana has been focusing on making village life more attractive and livable so people don't have to leave their village in the first place in search of a better life. This can be done for example by providing development partnerships to built access to clean water or a school for their children.
Almost a decade back Madagascar experienced a very tumultuous political situation and as a result many people fled the cities in search of safety in countryside. In the case of the village of Fiadanana, Zahana's pilot village, its population increased by 20% and after the political situation stabilized most of the newcomers decided to stay, since they discovered the advantages of the rural over the city life.
We encourage you to frequent your trusted news sources for more information. We find http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/?search=madagascar&searchheadlines=1
useful, since it lists many languages as links.
Please write to us directly if you want more information.
But despite the disturbing news out participatory development efforts in two villages in Madagascar continue.
Based on the ties established with the community of Fiarenana in October 2008 a formal meeting was held in February 2009.
To demonstrate their willingness to collaborate with Zahana they have already made 13,000 bricks for a future school building. In contrast to many other villages over 80% of the parents had gone to school as children themselves, can all read and write, and see the value and need for education for their children. The community envisions a school building that could become a leaning center for agriculture, health education and rural improvement that would function more as a rural university than a grade school in the traditional sense.
Decisions made at the February meeting:
Drinking water
As with most villages, safe drinking water is the biggest need. In this meeting it was decided to first improve the existing community well (see photos on the website) by building a permanent, covered structure, using the bricks that can support the hand pump supplied by Zahana. Since this community well represents their history and tradition, improving it was decided to be better then digging a new one.
Papaya
Each family will plant 7 papaya trees: 2 trees for the family's consumption and 5 where the fruits can be sold, either as dried fruits or fresh in the market in nearby Bevato.
SRI
The community requested training in SRI, the System of Rice Intensification. SRI was developed over two decades ago in Madagascar and can dramatically improve yields, doubling or even tripling crop yields at times. (Cornell University SRI http://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/). SRI has been very successful around the globe, but only works if a community is willing to learn about and adopt new planting techniques.
Increasing coffee production
Coffee is already grown in the village, but also consumed there. This is a great savings as cash does not leave the community to buy coffee. This cultivation will be intensified to supply neighboring villages and the community of Bevato. Traditionally farmers must supply coffee at harvest time to everybody working in their fields, so then the need for coffee is great.
Staying in touch, or the marvels of modern technology:
Staying in touch with remote village communities can be challenging when Zahana members have to travel for over 5 hours to get there, if the roads are passable and there is no mail service or busses that go there. Fortunately the village of Fiarenana has cell phone coverage.
Zahana bought a cell/mobile phone for the community of Fiarenana. They formed a committee of 4 representatives that are entitled to use it. If they have an issue to discuss with Zahana they send a text message/SMS and Zahana calls them back.
All cell phones in Madagascar only work with pre paid minutes, but incoming calls are free, since the caller pays for the calls. Therefore the cost for the villagers to talk to Zahana is minimal (just for the SMS) and Zahana pays for the minutes of the call on their end. All Zahana needs to do is to recharge the phone with more minutes every few months, so the number does not expire and there is now a direct lifeline to exchange ideas and news with Fiarenana.
But Fiarenana has no electricity. To recharge the cell phone's battery they need to walk over and hour to the next small town of Bevato to pay to get it recharged there. This service currently costs 2500 FMG (about 25 US cents) per charge with the use of a generator.
This is the first time that such a fancy high tech device has been available for the villagers.
Making a differene in Madagascar
By Markus Faigle - Volunteers, December 02, 2008 08:44 PM
Misaotra betsaka, Thank You very much! Merci Beaucoup! Vielen Dank! Muito Obrigado, Kiitoksia Paljon!!!
You did it! We made the goal and above with the Global Giving Challenge. We rank 8 out of 75 participants and got 124 contributors according to the website!
This would not have been possible without all of you contributing and getting your friends to donate. You have earned Zahana a permanent space on Global Giving. On Friday we sent the good news via SMS/text message to Madagascar and got this reply a few minutes later: “You're right, it's incredible. Congratulations! We all got it.”
Zahana will now be able to work in a second village and help people to transform their lives for the better. The first step now is a formal community meeting in Fiarenana, to establish official ties with the community, the elders and Zahana. This is often a day-long event in Madagascar, where future joint actions are discussed and decided.
Ihanta, Jeannette and Markus
You did it! We made the goal and above with the Global Giving Challenge. We rank 8 out of 75 participants and got 124 contributors according to the website!
This would not have been possible without all of you contributing and getting your friends to donate. You have earned Zahana a permanent space on Global Giving. On Friday we sent the good news via SMS/text message to Madagascar and got this reply a few minutes later: “You're right, it's incredible. Congratulations! We all got it.”
Zahana will now be able to work in a second village and help people to transform their lives for the better. The first step now is a formal community meeting in Fiarenana, to establish official ties with the community, the elders and Zahana. This is often a day-long event in Madagascar, where future joint actions are discussed and decided.
Ihanta, Jeannette and Markus
2008 Challenge - the last week - an update
By Markus Faigle - Volunteers, November 15, 2008 01:01 PM
Dear friends,
Thank you to all that already donated to the Global Giving Challenge 2008!
We still have 48 unique donors to go in a week’s time. I’m sure with your help we can reach this goal. Please let your friends and loved ones know about the challenge and encourage them to give too.
We just heard from our friend Ihanta in Madagascar she is very moved by the support we got over the last two weeks. She apologized she could not be more involved, but the fiscal year ends for the Ministry of Health and she is swamped.
We are planning to combine our next visit to Fiadanana and Fiarenana with Santa’s visit to our school in Fiadanana. Last year the over 150 children got among other things a yogurt (more on the website). If you look in the picture they are still reusing the containers months later for their water.
The most exciting and most challenging part of the visit will be to start collaborating with the village of Fiarenana, thanks to the donations through Global Giving. In anticipation of the new project’s launch we already did send some new seeds ahead, so they can plant in-between crops before the rice harvest. Thanks to your contributions we plan to acquire the needed mosquito nets as well, so we can get them to the village before the rainy or malaria season, when the roads become impassable for 3 months. In the community meeting the village will decide how to revitalize the nursery, the next big project we will tackle.
More soon. Thank you.
Jeannette and Markus
Thank you to all that already donated to the Global Giving Challenge 2008!
We still have 48 unique donors to go in a week’s time. I’m sure with your help we can reach this goal. Please let your friends and loved ones know about the challenge and encourage them to give too.
We just heard from our friend Ihanta in Madagascar she is very moved by the support we got over the last two weeks. She apologized she could not be more involved, but the fiscal year ends for the Ministry of Health and she is swamped.
We are planning to combine our next visit to Fiadanana and Fiarenana with Santa’s visit to our school in Fiadanana. Last year the over 150 children got among other things a yogurt (more on the website). If you look in the picture they are still reusing the containers months later for their water.
The most exciting and most challenging part of the visit will be to start collaborating with the village of Fiarenana, thanks to the donations through Global Giving. In anticipation of the new project’s launch we already did send some new seeds ahead, so they can plant in-between crops before the rice harvest. Thanks to your contributions we plan to acquire the needed mosquito nets as well, so we can get them to the village before the rainy or malaria season, when the roads become impassable for 3 months. In the community meeting the village will decide how to revitalize the nursery, the next big project we will tackle.
More soon. Thank you.
Jeannette and Markus
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