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‘What I appreciate most at the centre is the character of the director and the educators who all know how to relieve and comfort me, who filled the hole left by lack of affection from my family.‘
Maminirina Randrianarison, 14
‘The girls are in danger. The building is at risk of collapse.‘
Hery Fanomezantsoa Faraniaina, AAF centre director
A centre for girls left homeless or without adult care faces catastrophe in Madagascar. We are working on a swift, appropriate, effective response.
Heavy rains in Madagascar threaten the safety of vulnerable girls at a centre providing shelter, care and education to children unable to live with their families.
The Akany Avoko Faravohitra centre is a partner of Money for Madagascar. Based in the upper town of Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo, it cares for girls aged 7-17 who have no responsible adult to look after them, or have been homeless.
But cracks caused and worsened by recent severe storms threaten to cause its building to collapse, with potentially catastrophic short- and long-term consequences.
The centre’s director, Hery Fanomezantsoa Faraniaina, said: ‘We are urgently appealing to all donors, benefactors, and anyone who can lend a hand to help us renovate the centre’s building because the girls are in danger.
‘The building is at risk of collapse due to the dilapidated facilities and infrastructure, with cracks in the walls that have widened after a period of successive heavy rains that devastated the capital of Madagascar.’
AAF first opened in 1963, in a building donated by the Protestant Church, and which it has used ever since.
It has a capacity of 45-60 girls, and currently shelters 42, all of whom have been referred there by the Malagasy juvenile courts, after being proved to have been either homeless or unable to live with their families or another trusted and reliable responsible adult.
The centre shelters girls of any religion, birthplace or social class – its only ‘entry requirement’ is their need for care and assistance – and actively prevents them being jailed, which is a real threat under the harsh Malagasy penal system.
Among its services to the girls in its care, the centre helps young girls find careers and enter the workforce. A team of educators teaches them soft skills and know-how, including cooking, sewing, and crafts.
It offers children literacy and refresher courses in Maths and other academic subjects, sends some girls to public schools, as many cannot afford the £75-£100 (€90 to €120) annual cost and provides spiritual education, health care, professional training and balanced nutrition.
Maminirina Randrianarison, 14, has lived at the centre since September 2024. Her mother had died, and she was supposed to be cared for by an aunt, who abused her.
She said: ‘When I came to the centre, I was really sad, but after two weeks, I felt comfortable knowing that I was welcome here: the educators, the director, and the other girls who arrived at the centre before me welcomed me with tenderness.
‘They comforted me by saying that the centre is not a prison, as I had feared, but a place of education and learning, and that one day I will leave here with a lot of knowledge. They encouraged me a lot and lifted my spirits. I felt a great change in my life.
‘Now, my sadness has disappeared. I feel good living at the AAF centre. I feel comfortable, no more suffering.
‘I don’t feel like a prisoner but rather well-sheltered in a boarding school. I have been taught many things here: baking and cooking, crochet, making craft with recycled paper and raffia, and I received certificates on the training I completed.
‘I know crochet best, and when I leave here, I want to be a crochet teacher.
‘Afterwards, I will create my own craft business and market the products I make.
‘What I appreciate most here is the character of the director and the educators who all know how to relieve and comfort me, who filled the hole left by lack of affection from my family.
‘This helped me a lot to recover my morale and have a positive vision for my future. I am very grateful to all the team at the centre, who helped me become a good person who can face life with self-confidence.‘
Ms. Faraniaina added: ‘Let’s join hands to give vulnerable girls a chance at a new life with a better future.’
The most important thing for us and our partners who run the AAF is to keep the girls there safe, by keeping the centre safe.
That much is simple.
Where the situation becomes more complex is that the centre does not belong to us, to AAF, or even to the Malagasy government, which sends girls to be cared for here, but by a church foundation.
What we know, and want you to know, is that should the centre collapse, it would be a disaster in the short term, and for a long time to come.
Even if nobody were injured, the centre would no longer be able to provide shelter, food, education and care to everyone who needs it.
We will, of course, do everything we can to prevent either from happening.
We may need your help to do this.
We will of course let you know as any developments take place, and please feel free to contact us with enquiries or suggestions, and share this story with friends, family and colleagues. Thank you.
