
A centre which provides healing, hope and a home to young girls who have been forced onto the streets in Madagascar, is working to raise funds for an innovative income-generating scheme to make sure the girls have enough to eat.
A centre for destitute girls is raising money for an innovative income-generating scheme to provide a safe haven for its residents. And it needs your help.
The Ankany Avoko Faravohitra (AAF) provides healing, hope and a home to girls who would otherwise be forced to attempt to survive on the streets of Malagasy capital Antananarivo.
Without an education, skills, tools or start-up funds there are few options other than crime or prostitution for homeless girls on the city’s streets.
The Malagasy penal system harshly punishes petty theft: children are assumed guilty until proven innocent, which means they can spend months in jail while awaiting trial.
The AAF centre provides a safe haven for 55 vulnerable girls aged 5-18, giving support, education and a nurturing home environment until they are able to return to their own families or embark on independent living.
But the centre can only do this with assistance, and in recent months has faced challenges meeting its costs, including to feed the girls properly.
In response, staff have developed plans for a poultry-breeding programme, under which youngsters will be able to benefit from meat, eggs, and the sale of each.
This project requires investment of Ar 7,500,000, £12,805.48, a challenge in a country where 79.7 per cent of the population survives on less than £1.73 per day. It has so far raised Ar. 1,500,000.
To raise some money for the project, the AAF team held a lunch concert with the Trompetra Fanantenana, the choir of the FLM 67Ha church, on Sunday 15th December.
Centre Director Mrs Hery Fanomezantsoa Faraniaina, said: ‘We do not have enough financial partners to fully cover the needs of the centre. This is why we decided to set up this activity, in order to raise funds to finance our poultry breeding project, which aims to develop our income-generating activity. We hope to be able to make this project a reality, even if only partially, from the start of the year thanks to the money collected.’
To help fund the AAF poultry-breeding project, or other MfM programmes and initiatives, visit us here.