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Category: Community Development

MRCI Marudoko School Rebuild Square
BlogCommunity Development

MRCI rebuilds Maroduko Village Classrooms

Author: Emily Borth
12 February 2018

MRCI Marudoko School Rebuild 1

Cyclone Enawo slammed into the northeast coast of Madagascar on the 7th of March 2017 with the power of a category four hurricane, boasting wind gusts up to 270 kilometers per hour. 1 Situated on the northwestern side of Madagascar, the island of Nosy Be was spared the brunt of the storm’s strength. None the less, winds picked up as the weakened cyclone approached and growing storm swell assaulted the shoreline relentlessly. For the small village of Marodoku on Nosy Be, Cyclone Enawo meant they lost a classroom, decimated by the power of the wind and water.

Before the storm, the tiny campus of EPP Ambanoro in Marodoku village consisted of four classrooms used to teach around 200 children who range in age from 3 all the way to 14 years old. Losing the classroom meant that two already full classes had to combine into one even larger class. Today with standing room only, the small room bursts at the seams unable to fit enough desks and chairs to seat the students in attendance. And the numbers aren’t the only problem.

The students are at two very different levels in their studies. This is where we meet Fazila and Shaima, two sisters who attend class here. Shaima, the older of the two, excels in her studies and just last week earned student of the week for her hard work and dedication. Despite her more advanced level, she and her sister Fazila now attend the same class with the same lessons. Though she is happy to mentor her sister, for Shaima, many of the lessons are repeats of material she has already mastered.

MRCI Marudoko School Rebuild 2

But not for much longer. Thanks to the hard work and fundraising efforts of Marodoku village, MRCI and our volunteers, construction of a brand-new classroom is almost complete. One MRCI volunteer, Joshua Damen in conjunction with Kimberley College in Australia, raised over $3,900 USD for this project. Back in November, MRCI founder David Bird along with our Community Coordinator Rojo Razafisalama Andofinoana and our Director of Operations Emily Borth, all met with Marodoka Village President, Hassane along with the school’s Head Mistress, Francoise.

Together, we planned out logistics of the new classroom including location and design. We opted to hire a specialist from within the village to oversee construction. Who better to look after the school than one of the parents, Wawa, a 43-year-old life-long resident of Marodoka whose 8-year-old son attends classes there. Today, his assistant Jacks helps paint the newly constructed classroom walls. Jacks hopes to one day become a construction specialist and builder himself. He learns by doing and watches Wawa closely, always eager to jump in on more technical tasks.

Parents check in daily on the progress of the new classroom. Through a translator, the villagers tell us they have never seen a “vazaha” (foreigner) working with the cement and helping with construction. “They are here for holiday, but they are helping build. It sets a good example.” Shaima, for her part, wants to do everything she can to make sure she gets into secondary school. In this region of Madagascar, at around 14 or 15 years old, students take an entrance exam to get accepted into a secondary school in the larger neighboring city of Hellville. She beams with excitement at the prospect of restarting advanced classes.

1. “Strongest cyclone in 13 years hits Madagascar.” AlJazeera.com. Al Jazeera Media Network, 06 Mar. 2017. Accessed 10 Feb. 2018.

 

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MRCI Marudoko School Rebuild 3

mrci women's rights event 2017
BlogCommunity Development

MRCI Holds Women’s Rights and Equality Event

mrci women's rights event 2017

MRCI & Learn Achieve Become Partner For a Great Cause

MRCI teamed up with Learn Achieve Become to put on an event focused on women’s rights. Open to all genders and English levels, we raised money in order to transport people from the island of Nosy Komba to the event space, where around 100 people came out to discuss gender equality.

Topics ranged from defining sexism to the importance of education in today’s society. Participation from all different types of people in the community were encouraged, and some of our volunteers shared personal experiences.

While the event brought to light the disparities present between men and women globally, it had a positive focus, in order to help everyone understand the importance of equality and how equal participation between the genders betters the world we live in. Members of the audience enjoyed participating and explaining their views, especially at the end where we had a writing activity asking participants why they believed sexism was good or bad.

This event allowed us to celebrate a wide range of views while simultaneously celebrating the importance of both genders. And it was wonderful having a group of people from both Nosy Be and Nosy Komba accompany us to the event.

 

 

New Path Community Development MRCI Madagascar Volunteer
BlogCommunity Development

Volunteers Build A Path To Help The Community

One of the coolest things about Nosy Komba is the absence of motorized vehicles. Although this makes for some of the most quiet and peaceful star gazing nights, it means that locals must travel by foot. Although there are some paths, the terrain can be quite challenging, going over barnacle covered rocks and up into the jungle. Traveling to and from work with supplies and gear needed for the day can be tough, especially when the tide is high. Toss in the rainy season and it can be nearly impassible in certain locations.

MRCI’s construction program has wanted to help the locals by building a path over the dangerous route bordering our camp. The project has finally been approved and budgeted.
It is currently well underway! The construction crew has worked tirelessly with our local builders; churning cement by hand, making architectural plans, moving large rocks, and working all the way to sundown.
The massive scale of this project necessitates that it may not be completed for some time. However, amazing progress has already been made.

Thank you to our construction team and all the volunteers who took time off their designated programs to help build the first part of our new path!

Read More about our Community Development Program

 

New Path Community Development MRCI Madagascar Volunteer New Path Community Development MRCI Madagascar Volunteer New Path Community Development MRCI Madagascar Volunteer

BlogCommunity Development

Volunteer Funds Basketball Team for Tournament in Diego

Volunteer funds Ampangorina’s Basketball teams to take part in Diego’s 2017 Basketball Regionals

At the beginning of April a group of 24 young adults from Ampangorina (Ampang); a small village in Nosy Komba, and their coach ventured to Diego Suarez to play in the 2017 Regionals Basketball tournament. These young adults made up two teams: twelve in the girls team and twelve in the boys team. This trip would not have been possible without M.R.C.I.’s ex-volunteer Mika Peterson who funded the trip to Diego and gave these teenagers an opportunity to represent their little home from afar and do their community proud. We must also thank Niamh Flynn, M.R.C.I.’s community development coordinator, who supervised the entire trip and gave five of MRCIs volunteers the opportunity to join herself, Nikki Hargreaves (M.R.C.I.’s community intern) and the Ampang teams in Diego for the final.

Imagine never having left your remote island home before and being told from a young age that you probably never will. Then imagine how you would feel at the shock of later being told you will be part of a trip to the mainland of Madagascar. That you will, despite only for a short amount of time, be saying goodbye to your family and travelling a good ten hours from home for the first time. As Niamh Flynn put it: “It was very exciting and extremely rewarding – giving teenagers and young adults the opportunity to visit a place that the majority of them had never been to before and seeing families reuniting afterwards. Even though it was just a short trip it will be remembered for a very long time.” However, what was even more spectacular was the purpose of the trip. As an M.R.C.I. ex-volunteer, I felt so proud seeing the Ampang teams in their smart uniforms on the court giving it their absolute all; they looked so professional. It was obvious that this opportunity meant a lot to them and they were so motivated. It was wonderful to watch the teens socialise in the stadium with other players their age from across North Madagascar. The Ampang players also spent a fair amount of time watching other teams play, picking up on their tactics and what they did differently.

So did the teams succeed in the Regionals? I would say so! Both the boy’s team and the girl’s team performed incredibly and made it to the semi-final. However, despite their efforts, both teams were knocked out of the competition by defending champions Diego. Although they didn’t win the competition, the Ampang teams did perform exceptionally well; especially considering that their court at home is roughly half the size of the one in Diego’s stadium.

From a volunteer’s perspective, this trip has been the most unique experience I have had whilst travelling so far. On our first night in Diego, we stayed in two classrooms with the teams at a local school. Despite not being at home, the teams treated us as if we were their guests. I vividly remember arriving at the school, having these excited teens run outside and grab my hands, and then being shown to the girl’s classroom where I would be sleeping with them and the other volunteers.  It was wonderful being able to sit down and eat with them. Some of the players actually attend M.R.C.I.’s English classes and so during dinner we were able to have some basic conversations and giggle over mispronunciation when we volunteers reciprocated with Malagasy. One of the boys had brought a speaker with him, and so after dinner he would blast music into the room and, although none of us could really master the Malagasy way of dancing, we did our best to join in. Afterwards, the coach brought everyone together for a motivational speech on how they would go about tomorrow’s games. Despite being the only basketball coach on Nosy Komba, there couldn’t be a better suited person for the job. The room was silent afterward and even though I wasn’t part of the team, I felt inspired for sure.

Better still, my favourite memory from our trip was when all the girls and us volunteers laid out our bedding in a circle so that we were all facing each other for the night. It took the girl’s ages to settle down before we went to sleep and there was so much giggling; they had never done anything like this before. Although the school floor was uncomfortable, it added to the experience and it is definitely a story worth telling. Niamh Flynn told us: ‘Sleeping on the floor with all of the giggling girls was a bit tough the first night, but the second night I fell sound asleep. It was an opportunity that I value more than I even know.’

When I asked fellow volunteer about the trip she told me: ‘Diego left me with many unforgettable memories such as seeing lush mainland Madagascar on the cramped yet hilarious journey by taxi brousse; walking through town to the gymnasium and cheering on the Ampang basketball team each day; sitting on the floor around the fire to help peel and chop vegetables at meal times; and having a giant sleepover with all the girls on the concrete floor of a school.’

Over the next couple of days, when the teams weren’t playing basketball; which was most of the time, we would all chill out in the school grounds. Some of the team would be preparing food or cooking, others messing around with the basketball and getting in some extra practice. Niamh Flynn also said: ‘I was honoured to be included in the day to day activities such as going to the bazaar and doing the cooking – not that I was much help, but I tried!’  The volunteers joined in a few games of Bulldog’s Malagasy equivalent which became tiring extremely quickly. It’s remarkable that the teens had endured intense basketball tournaments, as well as an uncomfortable school floor to sleep on, yet still had heaps of energy! They put us sluggish volunteers to shame.

The trip ended on a beautiful note when we all gathered together and congratulated the teams on their successes and the fact that, despite not knowing each other too well and being away from home, they managed incredibly and made the most out of what they had and were provided with whilst in Diego. The M.R.C.I staff and volunteers managed to use the spending money we had left over to buy the teams a brand new basketball which we presented to them after the little speech. That moment was nothing short of happiness and pride; it confirmed that the trip was not just successful, but a once in a lifetime experience for these teenagers which will never be forgotten.

 

By Arantxa Underwood

 

Volunteer funds Ampangorina’s Basketball teams to take part in Diego’s 2017 Basketball Regionals

Volunteer funds Ampangorina’s Basketball teams to take part in Diego’s 2017 Basketball Regionals

Diego Basketball Tournement

MRCI’s Impact on Conservation and Commitment to the Environment
BlogCommunity DevelopmentForest ConservationMarine Conservation

MRCI’s Impact on Conservation and Commitment to the Environment

MRCI’s Impact on Conservation and Commitment to the EnvironmentOne of our previous forest conservation volunteers conducted some research on the impact the Madagascar Research and Conservation Institute (MRCI) has on social behaviour towards conservation for her university degree.  She asked all volunteers to complete a questionnaire when starting and ending their program.  The questions focused on commitment to the environment and respect for nature.  Overall, she found that volunteers showed more commitment to the environment in terms of water conservation, littering and respect on leaving after their volunteer stay, when compared to arriving.

MRCI’s Impact on Conservation and Commitment to the EnvironmentThis shows the impact that organisations such as MRCI have on volunteers, allowing them to experience living a more simple life first hand and seeing the impact of littering and degradation on the environment.  This change of attitude and behaviour towards the environment can have a lasting impact on volunteers and hopefully result in positive, sustainable change in their lives back home.

Along with the conservation work we do on the ground in Madagascar, we aim to promote positive behaviour changes that reach around the world and contribute to a more sustainable future.

MRCI’s Impact on Conservation and Commitment to the EnvironmentWe are very grateful to Sandra Ellerkamp for completing this research and allowing us to share a summary, see below:

Impact of MRCI on commitment to the environment

If you would like to find out how you can join one of our conservation programs, contact us or sign up today!