Repair a Madagascar School to Educate 281 Children

Much of the recent progress at Mahatalaky has been extremely positive indeed, though working in such a challenging environment inevitably unexpected issues emerge. The tireless work of our Malagasy Construction Team and International volunteers has seen the cracked veranda repaired, the partition and main walls strengthened and the concrete structure getting a new lick of paint. None of this work is merely cosmetic though; it is essential to making sure the building does not fall into disrepair. Over recent years, Madagascar has borne the brunt of increasingly unpredictable weather that has damaged buildings such as those at Mahatalaky. Taking every step to make sure the building is resilient reflects SEED Madagascar’s ethos of ensuring our interventions are sustainable and that Mahatalaky’s children have a safe and comfortable place to learn for years to come.

Unfortunately, the project has experienced some unforeseen delays that mean we have not yet been unable to erect the roof as we had planned. Fort Dauphin, the capital of the isolated Anosy region, is suffering a `cement drought`, meaning that we have been unable to purchase the cement we need to secure the roof. Difficulties like this epitomise the challenges of working in such an isolated region, that we just would never expect to experience in a developing country. To give an indication of the isolation of Mahatalaky, it can take up to seven hours to drive from Fort Dauphin to Mahatalaky, although it is a distance of just 33 kilometres away. We have been informed that cement will be arriving in Fort Dauphin this month, at which point we will put the roof on the building and refurnish the classrooms.

Sue, our International Head of Volunteering, headed to Mahatalaky with our new Project Development Officer, Laure, and our Head of Construction, Lomba for a monitoring visit at the school in the first week of the new school year. Laure and Sue were introduced to the teachers, who thanked them for their ongoing support of the work at the school. Making sure that our team stays in contact with developments on the ground contributes to strong relationships with communities and beneficiaries – an essential ingredient particularly when responding to complex challenges and emerging needs.

Having been supporting our projects from the London office, it was crucial that Sue was able to see the work with her own eyes. Sue was able to see children from the fourth and fifth years that are studying in the new building completed by SEED at the beginning of 2015. She was impressed by the original stone masonry on the building that SEED has been renovating, and pleased that the project was giving the building a new lease of life. Sue was also struck by the enthusiasm and appetite for learning that the children showed.