(English) Children’s Month celebrations at AAA-B

Miala tsiny fa tsy mbola misy amin’ny teny malagasy ity lahatsoratra ity.

More than 200 people, including more than 190 children, gathered last Saturday to celebrate Malagasy children’s rights, talents and care.

Madagascar’s Children’s Month, held every June, is dedicated to highlighting and promoting children’s rights.

Those rights, enshrined in the UN’s Declaration of the Rights of the Child, include the right to education, to heath, to protection, to a name and nationality, and the right to live in a family.

And this year, the AAA-B Centre, two children’s homes on the outskirts of Malagasy capital Antananarivo supported by MfM, which care for boys and girls unable to live with their families, celebrated the month, Madagascar’s children, and highlighted those rights, with a four-part event under the theme ‘A child who smiles is a child fulfilled’.

The Centre provides shelter, food, healthcare, education, and care and attention to children who are unable to live with their families, many of whom have been referred by the Malagasy juvenile courts.

On Saturday 21 June, 107 children from the AAA Centre in Ambohidratrimo, 29 children from the AAB centre which cares for boys aged eight and older, 17 children from the AAF centre, 30 children who are associated with other Malagasy NGOs, and ten from the nearby David Griffiths School.

They led a carnival through the streets of Ambohidratrimo, from the town’s municipal office to the AAA Centre, where they performed dance, songs, poetry and public speaking.

The event was attended also by parents, as well as guests from the Federation of Protestant Churches of Madagascar (FFPM) and Malagasy Ministry of Justice, which founded the Centres, and representatives of the Ministry of Population, the Ambohidratrimo Commune, the Fokontany (the ‘neighbourhood community’) and the Ambohidratrimo gendarmerie.

They were joined by representatives of the Centre’s partners QUAPEM, PADEM, Illis Monaco, various children’s NGOs, Kristiana Tanora Ambatovinaky, who has been involved with the Centre for 40 years, and Money for Madagascar.

The celebrations also included the official inauguration of renovated buildings at the AAA Centre – the renovation was carried out to meet the quality standards for children’s education – and a thank-you meeting with the centre’s supporters, to highlight their contribution and encourage their continued commitment to the Centre.

In her speech at the event, AAA-B director Ivelohanta Razafindrasoa, said:

‘The objective of this celebration is to give joy to children. They can be happy, even here, because their rights are respected. They don’t have to be ashamed of being raised by the centre: on the contrary, it’s an opportunity for them.’

Also during the event, AAA-B Centre staff ran training sessions with parents of children at the centres to help them enable the youngsters’ reintegration into society.

The sessions, which will help some of the children return home, included ‘the parent-child relationship’ and ‘listening and empathy’.

MfM, other partners and the Centre itself, remain united to protect, educate and development of children. Our work and the children’s will help them understand and realise their rights and potential.