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Quick Links to Zahana's activities in Madagascar: click on any image/issue below

The community builds a school in Madagascar

Communal rice and corn storage bulding in Madagascar

Improving Cookstove technology in Madagascar

Adressing food Security in rural Madagascar

Zahana's photo gallery about rural transofmation in Madagascar

Other issues addressed by zahana in Madagascar

Zahana's News before 2009

November 21, 2008:

Zahana meets the Global Giving's "Project Challenge 2008!"

Misaotra betsaka, Thank You very much! Merci Beaucoup! Vielen Dank! Muito Obrigado, Kiitoksia Paljon!!!

Indeed, we can, actually 134 of you could! Now we can start working with the village of Fiarenana! This would not have been possible without all of you contributing and getting your friends to contribute. We made our goal at Global Giving and have earned our permanent space there.

November 1: Zahana starts the Global Giving Project Challenge 2008 to find out more please click here

October 2008

A two week refresher course for the teachers, in combination with an annual evaluation of their work was conducted by the educational consultant in the village of Fiadanana.

August 2008

Zahana launches a school lunch, or better school snack program in the new school year, thanks to a generous grant from the German Foundation “children for a better world”. Each child will receive a mofo gasy every day they attend school. See food security for details. For a detailed description of the school program (in German only) please click here.

July 2008

To address food security in Fiadanana Zahana buys rice in the village and stores it in the village’s grain storage. Food security is a nice sounding for “addressing hunger”. With the international news that rice prices are soaring everywhere this had a big impact in Madagascar where rice is the food #1 people consume. Farmers normally sell their rice right after harvest when trucks roam the countryside offering fast cash for rice. Transporting it to the city they can triple their profits with one trip.

With the lure of fast money, farmers are tempted to sell all they harvest, not saving enough seed for the next planting season. To counteract this trend Zahana bought 2 tons of rice in the village that will be used for the school food for the children. The additional rice will serve as a micro-credit seed fund (literally) where farmers can borrow for the next harvest should they fall short, come planting season next year. In return farmers will be required to give more seed back to Zahana after harvest to increase the revolving fund in the seed bank.

Rice bought by zahana for the school children

For more pictures of the rice please click here

June 2008

In May 2008 the village of Fiarenana sent an official delegation to Fiadanana to meet with Zahana during a site visit. In this formal encounter they asked Zahana for assistance in their village and invited Zahana to a community meeting to explore the possibilities for cooperation. (click here)

May 2008:

The living fence around the school is growing well (Click here)

March 2008:

We got the following feedback about Cyclone Ivan in Fiadanana:

"The impact of cyclone in Fiadanana was a little bitter, it destroyed the Maïs plants (corn)."

The roads to the village are impassable in the cyclone season, because nobody is willing to drive there and risk their vehicle. It is hard to assess the damage fully, besides the information that travels by word of mouth. Corn is the second most important crop for Fiadanana for food and cash after rice. In 2005 almost 20% of the cultivated land was planted with corn.

December 2007

Santa visits Fiadanana and brings gifts for the children for the first time in their lives. Please click here

October/November 2007:

The Zahana women’s group start the first microcredit project, with Zahana providing the seed money to kick-start the project.

We tested the improved cookstove design (background click here)

Two teachers for the new school have been trained and hired
Teachers_in_Fiadanana_Madagascar
Fiadanana's two teachers, teaching over 140 of the village's children

The School was inaugurated in July 2007 and classes began

For a report from May 2007 please click here

School for Fiadanana was built by the villagers

School_in_Fiadanana_Madagascar

School Building and Cooking Pavilion (in the back to the right)

Building the school for Fiadanana in Madagascar

For background information about the school click here please

For more information about the Grain Storage please click here

Grain storage building in Fiadanana Madagascar
Grain Storage for rice and corn was built by the community

Madagascar: Building the grain storage for Fiadanana

Way back in October 2005: 2 communal water holes and a river were the only source of water for the village.(photos below text in this section)

The old water hole in Fiadanana back in 2005

October 2006: A permanent water supply is providing water in the center of the village for the first time ever.

Please click here for more pictures about the new water supply

Green_water_storage_Tank_in_Fiadanana_Madagascar_in_Fiadanana_Madagascar

Green water faucet_in_Fiadanana_Madagascar

Click for more pictures of the water faucets all over the village

Building the permanent water system: From building a water reservoir on the mountain to putting in 2.5 km (1.5 miles) long pipe system, the villagers contributed to getting water into their village.
Building the water reservoir for Fiadanana Madagascar

Please click for more pictures about building the water supply

Building the School: Fiadanana never had a school for its children. With bricks made by the villagers they built their own school building.

Bricks for the new school in Fiadanana Madagascar The walls of the new school going up in Faidanana madagascar

Please click for more pictures about building the school

Building the communal rice storage facility: A save place to store rice after the harvest is being built by the villagers.
walls of the grain storage in Faidanana Madagascar

Please click for more pictures of the grainery

Making the bricks: As a corner stone of Zahana’s approach villagers contribute their labor and locally available materials to all the projects. The bricks for the school and the communal rice storage facility were made by the villagers on site.
making bricks in Madagascar making bricksin Faidanana Madagascar

Please click for more pictures about brick making

Planting for the future: Fruit trees were panted as past of the living fence of the schoolyard. Reforestation is the next logical step, since firewood for cooking is in high demand.

Planting trees in Madagascar

Please click for more pictures of planting trees and the school yard

Improving overall health: A two-day village wide clean up was organized to eliminate diseases like Tungaiasis (transmitted by fleas living in the dust).

cleaning the village_in_Fiadanana_Madagascar
Improving overall health: Children and adults have been examined by volunteer doctors joining Zahana on a special visit.
waiting for the doctor waiting for the doctor_in_Fiadanana_Madagascar

Improving overall health: mosquito nets have been distributed in the village to prevent Malaria.
mosquito nets_in_Fiadanana_Madagascar Using the mosquito net in the house_in_Fiadanana_Madagascar

For detailed information please visit Latest News and the rest of this web site

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