This year, we are working in partnership with the town hall of Imerintsiatosika, a rural municipality 28km from Antananarivo, in the SOS village project, which consists of taking care of street children, aged 5 to 12, who have never been to school.
As part of this project, we are going to educate children first, then their mothers, often single, to a promising profession in the region, allowing them to be financially independent.
For this, we are going, with the help of the local community, to build an “akany” (center), which will be equipped with all the necessary infrastructure in order to welcome children in the best conditions. Our objective is to welcome around fifteen children in the first year.
As the municipality is not fully served by water and electricity, we will finance the installation of a well and solar panels, or a generator according to the level of emergency.
The construction of premises (classrooms, training rooms and sanitary facilities), learning materials (boards, furniture) and school supplies will be taken care of by the association, but not only. Children who will attend school there will also benefit from a lunch in the canteen, as few children have access to food on a daily basis.
Still with a view to sustainable development that would fully benefit the local community in terms of employment, the meals provided will be made with products from local farmers, and we will ensure that the majority of school materials or made by local artisans.
Children will benefit from a small field where they can play and practice sport.
They will also be made aware of the importance of hygiene and will be able to take advantage of the centre’s facilities to put them into practice.
With a view to equality between schoolchildren, uniforms will be made available to them, and occasionally, clothing donations will be made.
The objective of this project is to give a new start to all these children who only know the street, and who had to work hard despite their young ages to survive.
Our goal is to give them a new impetus so that they acquire the thirst to learn, to educate themselves, and that they can integrate the traditional school system when they have acquired the necessary bases for it.