Project in Action

Nestled very high up on a plateau in the centre of the island, the city of Antananarivo (it also goes by the name of “Tana,” which is what the French colonizers called it when they occupied the country) is Madagascar’s capital.  It has an Upper Town, a Middle Town, and a Lower Town providing not only clues as to their particular geographical positions up a hill, in the middle and below its slopes but also an indication of what it’s like to walk in this city!  Its streets are busy and narrow and there is colorful foliage evident everywhere.

While in ‘Tana’ we had meetings with Matilda, who is World Renew’s Disaster Response Manager for Africa and our supervisor for this assignment, and with the staff at SAF/FJKM’s (the partner we are working with) headquarters.  We loaded up with information and wisdom about our assignment and the following day we flew to Taolagnaro (also known as Fort-Dauphin).  That flight was followed by a road trip to our final destination. For 4 hours we rattled and bounced our way to Ambovombe on a road that is very rough, very uneven and full of large holes.  It was an experience!

Ambovombe is a city of about 122,000 people.  The street where our hotel is located has a dirt road with traffic trying to make safe progress between hundreds of ambulating people and two-wheeled ox-drawn carts. Small roadside shops are everywhere.  Any vehicles which are present mainly belong to various NGOs who are working in the area.  There are also a lot of heavily laden trucks that pass through this city.

SAF/JKFM has their ‘field office’ just down the road from us.  There we meet with the staff and make use of a desk they have set up for us.

We arrived here in time to see the fourth distribution for this project. What an experience! How would you organize the distribution of 100,000 ariary (about $33 Canadian) and a 50-kilogram bag of rice to 2,000 families over a 2 day period all in a safe, secure and organized way? This partner has it down to a perfect system!  Once started, each distribution took only 3 hours to complete.

The beneficiaries are subsistence farmers who try to live on what they grow in almost desert- like conditions. Due to the severe drought, they have been unable to grow anything and prior to the beginning of the project were living on one meal per day or less.

The project’s beneficiaries live in 35 different villages and were chosen by a selection committee from each of the villages.  Each committee is composed of 4 representatives (50% women to ensure female leadership in the decision-making processes), beneficiaries, local authorities, and traditional leaders.  The selection criteria stipulates that households can not have any source of income, must not own any livestock, have access to land for seed cultivation, and be eating only one meal or less per day.  Then there are other criteria that influence the eligibility of the households:

• are female headed with children
• has one or more persons with a disability
• has one or more elderly members (> 65 years old)
• is headed by a widow or widower
• has orphans or vulnerable children

At the first of the two distributions, we arrived on the scene with 1,000 families already seated in their village groups, in any shade they could find.  This is understandable on a day with a 35^oC temperature reading and with an expected wait period of about 4 hours which would include some heavy lifting. We, as representatives of World Renew/CFGB, were warmly welcomed with singing and dancing……. and invited to join in!

This was followed with some speeches, prayer, and a review of some of the things being taught during this project. These include agricultural training, healthy nutrition, gender equality, a savings system called VSLA (check it out) and a complaints/feedback system where people can report any irregularities. Next, the heads-of-household are grouped into lines of ten and register by signing in with their fingerprints (very few have signatures), after which they receive their cash.   

When all have received their allotment of money, they are invited to come to the area where the bags of rice are piled, pre-counted for each village, and ready to take. Here extended family members help to drag their bag of rice to an ox-cart they have hired, together with some other villagers.

There is a sense of joyfulness and expression of thanks to God for the provision as they leave the event. These beneficiaries have been gratefully receiving assistance for 9 months now and their health is improving. 

However, we are unable to close our eyes to the many impoverished men, women and children who hang around on the outskirts of the distribution asking to be included and who walk along the city streets holding out their hands beseechingly. This is heartbreaking and we are left with questions. What more can we do? Are we making any difference?

We are encouraged by the Starfish story…..

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking up and gently throwing things into the ocean.

Approaching the boy he asked, “Young man, what are you doing?”

“Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up, and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die,” the boy replied.

The man laughed to himself and said, “Do you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make any difference.”

After listening politely, the boy bent down to pick up another starfish and threw it into the surf. Then, he smiled at the man and said, “I made a difference to that one.”

By: Loren Eiseley

Moral: Everyone can make a difference — even if that difference affects one person.