Madagascar Open Letter 2007

COMME CHAQUE ANNÉE DEPUIS 10 ANS DÉJÀ,
I WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED OF THE BACK TO SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER THROUGH OUR SITE,
THEREFORE MEET ME AGAIN IN FRONT OF THIS WHITE SHEET !!!

The return to work went well for us, a few days before the official start of the school year, which allowed parents or guardians to have money on hand to meet the cost of part of the supplies. and uniforms needed at the start of the year.

Given the high cost of PPN (Basic Necessity Products) we decided within the Committee to increase the children’s grant.

Your proteges now benefit, in addition to their registration to theO.S.T.I.E, a food supplement, sweets at Easter and a big end-of-year party, each month of 10,000 ariary that we give them as always at the Town Hall of the 1st Arrondissement on the first Tuesday of each month.

I can tell you that this news was applauded on Tuesday, September 4 and that those present promised to ensure that their children become studious children, well aware that they are working for them with the aim of a better future. happy ! In order to share with you a little the atmosphere of the Big Island in which we operate, here is a short summary of the most salient facts, which touched me the most and which I noted for you. The source often comes from a national daily newspaper of information and analysis “ Les Nouvelles ” or another “ The express from Madagascar »

I won’t tell you anything or much about the months of June, July and August, since I wasn’t there! Be aware, however, that Tana the great was entitled to a complete grooming. Tarmac roads, buildings, barriers, public benches, road layouts, repainted, trees planted, new flower beds designed, lighting and flashing illuminations installed and even two fountains have taken place, one in the city center, the other at the crossroads leading to the airport. On my return from leave I was able to admire all this, as well as when leaving Tana a new huge panel taking the entire width of the road, forming an arcade on which you can read in three languages, Malagasy, French and English :
“The city of Tana wishes you a good trip! “

Madagascar having been designated to organize the Islands Games from August 9 to 19 at home, everything had to be welcoming, clean and reassuring for visitors, potential investors? The country’s honor is at stake !!

On January 2, after the festivities due to the end of the year celebrations, we were plunged into the horror of reality when we learned that about 5,600 children out of 6,100 declared malnourished risked dying in the South if no measures were taken. was taken!

This title in bold appeared on page 5 under the SOCIETE section of the newspaper Les Nouvelles!

Children under five are among the victims most affected by malnutrition with a rate varying between 3 and 20% depending on the severity. This situation required emergency measures and measures were taken by the National Nutrition Office (ONN) with technical support from Unicef.

According to the representative of Unicef ​​in Madagascar Mr. Bruno Maes , 28 municipalities were affected by malnutrition among the 189 declared in food deficit which could affect more than 85,000 children and 25,000 breastfeeding women throughout the country. ‘island…

Nearly 10,000 children are victims of acute malnutrition which was the main cause of infant mortality in Madagascar during 2006!

This year 2007 began with fine words from the new President re-elected for five years, “10% increase in salaries for civil servants of state agents. “He left it up to business owners to judge whether or not a decision to increase wages in the private sector was appropriate !!

There were eight tons of school supplies lost in a fire in Ampefiloha; The amphitheater of the National Sports Academy (ANS) was on Tuesday January 2 in the grip of the flames which broke out from inside. These school supplies belonged to an NGO called “ Solidarité Laïque ” who had only one hope, that of helping the 22 regional directorates of national education and therefore the children of Madagascar, unfortunately this hope went up in smoke…. !!!

The abandonment of children is no longer accepted from this year… At least this is what President Marc Ravalomanana suggested in the speech he gave on Friday January 5 at the ceremony of the presentation of vows..

« This situation or a good number of women, having six to eight children in charge and who are abandoned by the father is unacceptable he said !!! »
A DNA test was recommended by the head of state during this speech.

The Malagasy state intends to mobilize to limit the number of children who are not recognized or have no father …
The state would therefore consider conducting a DNA test for the next five years…. a way to encourage everyone to take responsibility for their actions !!! Madagascar has a law on paternity which stipulates that the author of a child has the obligation to feed him. … Dr Jean-Louis Robinson, current Minister of Health and Family Planning,added after the announcement of this measure:
“As we already have a law on paternity ( which by the way has never arrested anyone ) the most important thing is to see the means allowing its application fast, because it leaves much to be desired, especially in remote areas. »!!!

Despite everything, the abandonment of family and children takes on a worrying scale, the central service of the morality police and the protection of minors receives, on average nearly 10 cases per month, a real social scourge …

When it is not abandoned, the child must work, the work of children from disadvantaged backgrounds is a constant. While some families manage to cope, others must rely on children’s financial support to survive.

Testimonies come to us from mothers, abandoned or separated from their spouses, with young children and young adolescents who work.

None of them currently conceive of taking their children out of work, as one of them points out.

“Not that we are not oblivious that making them work is harming their childhood and their future, but rather because we know that if they do not do not work, it is the present that will no longer be livable ”!

MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT APPROXIMATELY 30% OF CHILDREN IN MADAGASCAR WORK, MORE THAN 60% OF THEM HAVE NOT REACHED THE LEGAL AGE OF ENTRY ON THE LABOR MARKET SET AT 15!

The most common ways that children work are:

small sellers along the streets of plastic bags or handmade postcards,

carriers of shopping baskets at the outlet of the store and to the customers’ car,

water carrier,

domestic work,

informal trade,

begging…

but also sexual exploitation …

Currently 88% of working children do domestic or hazardous chores, such as

breaking stones,

work in mines,

l’orpaillage,

transplanting and threshing rice

and this percentage is 2 million children between 3 and 14 years old !!

Children are the first victims of the irresponsibility of parents who flee from their duty to educate and protect children for lack of income, here unemployment paid by the state does not exist !!

For information Madagascar has ratified the Child Labor Convention!

Children have the right and the duty to help their parents, but not to the point of completely abandoning their education, unfortunately this is often the case, one in three Malagasy children is forced to work to continue to exist !!

It is therefore here dear donors that you come into play, thanks to your sponsorship the family of our little ones protected receives each month a sum which helps them to survive and thus allows the children to be seated on the benches of the school. !! THANKS FOR THEM.

MALAGASY CHILDHOOD IN FIGURES.

8.3 million inhabitants are under the age of 18.
1.3 million children under the age of five do not have a birth certificate.
1.8 million children under the age of five do not have access to health care.
2 million children under the age of 15 perform hazardous work to survive.
45% of children under 5 are victims of malnutrition.
5,000 children live in the streets of the capital.

« SOURCES: Unicef, BIT, Ministry of Population. »

The arrival of the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel was a heavenly manna for the Malagasy government …

Indeed it is not less than 12 million euros that the European Union offered to Madagascar through it, ie 31 billion ariary !! … Let us hope that the poor will be a little less poor and that the NGOs which must work in partnership with the public authorities will be entitled to the chapter to ensure respect for the 16 projects in question!

THE DAMAGE OCCASIONED BY THE PASSAGE OF CYCLONES AND THE INCESSIVE RAIN OF THIS YEAR WAS VERY SEVERE.

The provisional assessment of National Office for Risk and Disaster Management reported flooding of more than 45,000 hectares of cultivated area, causing the loss of around 200,000 tonnes of rice at the end of March….
Residential houses were flooded as a result of the rising waters, leaving a total of 24,000 people affected throughout the island, including more than 14,000 in Antananarivo.

The government had to launch an appeal for international aid in order to come to the aid of the victims….

We experienced nightmarish visions around the center of Tana; it was horror.

Makeshift tents all along the dike road were set up to accommodate the victims who, in no time at all, lost what little they had….

When I left Tana on June 2nd the situation was still very precarious for all these unfortunate people!

I had never seen such a disaster in the highlands in the 10 years that I have lived there….

10 years already … 10 years that you give us your confidence and that you support us …

To mark these 10 years of love and dedication that we volunteer in the service of children in poverty, a great project is being formed, the creation of a refresher center and a school to accommodate around 180 to 200 children !!!

This center already exists in an infinitely poor populous lower quarter in the very heart of Tana which calls itANKORONDRANO, a small center built in wood where these children receive lessons, food and attention;

I learned from an informal source that this whole slum is bound to disappear in the near or distant future depending on the case.

It seems that in high places, we want to make Ankorondrano a chic district, window open on a dynamic and modern Tana … If this is really the case I do not know not what will become of all these destitute people and if they are pushed back to the gates of the city as it has already happened under the old regime, it would not be advisable to build a permanent center in this place if there is no has more needy to settle there….

So I have to push more ahead of my investigations, before investing the money that some of you have given us for this project !!!

We move forward, slowly but surely, nothing is easy here but it’s like everywhere else I guess when you are surrounded by extreme poverty …

We have the will and the energy to make it happen, and we will, as long as we can count on your support and generosity.

Before ending this open letter, I would like to share with you another one, this one was written by Father Pedro.

Father Pedro Opeka is a well-known figure here in Tana and abroad, he passed this letter in the daily “NEWS” of Thursday March 8, it was addressed to the PDS of the urban municipality of Antananarivo and here is the content:

“For the umpteenth time we want to sound the alarm bells on the inhuman situation of street children in the city of Antananarivo! If we did not wait until June to give ourselves a clear conscience with parties and speeches!

This problem of street children in our capital has been a long-standing problem, until now despite numerous appeals to city authorities and responsible ministries, few things have been done, in time and with perseverance!
These efforts should be sustainable. The responsible authorities know what is happening in the city: the break-up, the violence, the rapes, prostitution in families….
Shame for our city that parents let their children get lost in the streets, shame also for law enforcement officials, when children no longer fear anyone. May certain districts of our city never become “lawless” zones! Is it possible for children to stand up to parents and city officials, because parents and authorities have resigned, let the family have a blast and humanity in the city adrift!

This finding is by no means an accusation but a sad reality for which we must together feel responsible and united.
We urge the city council to organize a plan to bring the children back to their families, do everything possible to dissuade everyone and firmly persuade them to no longer settle and sleep in the streets!
It is about the dignity, the future of children and the way tourists see our beautiful country and our capital.
In many cases, the Children’s Charter is not respected.
It is a challenge for every citizen to do everything possible to encourage children to go home, go to school and help their parents!
We all know they have excuses, in a family without food and without a father!
The company with all its means and its know-how can provide solutions to this problem.
If we do not react in time the situation will be irreversible and the damage considerable for the whole city.
Parents, city officials, NGOs we cannot and must not give up, our children’s future is at stake!
It’s time to wake up and take responsibility!
You have the right to hold a position without having the dignity of responsibility. The future will judge it.
Against this scourge we must all join hands, State, Church, civil society and NGOs!

Yesterday evening we were still looking for children until midnight, we brought back 3 from 6 to 7 years old, about 20 escaped.

The problem is serious, it is not a question of the organization of platform but of going out in the streets to discover the sad reality and to save children.

Certainly a solution exists… it is up to us to seek it together, so as not to lose our soul and theirs!

We are all responsible for their future….

Cette lettre ouverte est un SOS à nos consciences et à votre bonne volonté !

Done in Akamasoa, March 07, 2007 Father Pedro Opeka. “Back on September 2 in Tana, I found there a press article from” Midi Madagasikara “No. 7243 dated Monday June 4, 2007; a friend who kept it for me.

I will not read it all to you but simply let you know that Father Pedro during this month of June dedicated to children, had once again tried to convey a message by making a call for more action than speech. .

This ecclesiastical Dignitary pointed out that every year in this month of childhood, one could read beautiful pages and hear beautiful speeches, all filled with generous intentions for all the children of the world.

He wondered in another letter titled “ Red Card for Child Abandonment ” whether that was enough to save all the children who suffer in the world and especially those in poor countries?

“What does this mean for each of us, parents, educators, politicians and religious leaders?

What is being done concretely to implement, everywhere, the rights of children proclaimed in a beautiful Universal Declaration? What are we doing to hold the truth to these childhood rights? “

This religious thus calls once again to all parents, to all States, to political leaders, to educators and to churches to devote all their actions to the life that is embodied by children.
“Let’s ensure life,” he said,

By building social housing for the poorest families
By ensuring the feeding of children
By creating schools where they will be educated to then have a job
By treating them in essential health centers
By dissuading them from fleeing to the streets where they run the worst risks of drugs, alcohol and debauchery “

In a way, his watchwords are: let’s take action …

“ Acta non verba! “

Nothing more to add !
Thank you for continuing to support us so that we can achieve our ambitions !!

Yours faithfully,

NICKY VAN ASS
PRÉSIDENTE FONDATRICE