Our representative in Fianarantsoa warned us that now, after 10 years of use, a large part of the crockery in the canteen needs to be completely replaced, replacing only a few parts over time. After obtaining offers from the catering wholesaler, we were finally able to take advantage of a special offer from IKEA and sent 150 plates and 150 drinking vessels by DHL air freight before we left for Madagascar. We were able to buy the other utensils needed for the kitchen in Madagascar.
2019
Ambalafenomby 2019
The hurricanes of the 2018/2019 season largely spared the Fianarantsoa region. The repair work on buildings and water supply from the previous year had not yet been completely completed, the new trades partner proved to be reliable and the remaining work was carried out properly at the beginning of this year. A teacher who, in the opinion of the Headmistress, did not perform as expected was replaced by a new teacher. A good education is guaranteed for the 120 children.
As expected, the supply situation has deteriorated. The poor harvest due to the extreme drought in the growth and ripening period of the rice has led to a shortage and increased price of this staple food. Thanks to our long-standing relationship with the supplier, we were able to ensure continuous supplies to the school canteen again this year.
The new parliamentary and government elections meant that two changes in the school minister led to repeated changes in the school calendar, especially at the beginning of the new 2019/2020 school year. As a result, our presence at the start of the new school year could only be planned for a very short time - and then with a great deal of uncertainty. However, we still managed to be there at the beginning of the school year, which was postponed 3 times, on November 5th, 2019.
Pleasant again this year: almost all pupils had the consent of their parents to attend secondary school. This change in the parents' attitude towards the need for education for their children is the most important success of our school project.
We have handed over the necessary teaching and learning materials for the new school year to the students and teachers, including 1,500 notebooks, 150 ballpoint pens, blackboards and chalk for the first graders, textbooks and organizational materials for the teachers.
As every year, we visited the director of the bank that runs the local account to ensure the smooth processing of the transfers through personal contact.
We have paid the contributions for the school staff for the current year to the two social security offices, health and accident insurance and pension insurance.
We paid the annual contact visit to the director of the episcopal schools in the district and discussed the possibility of our school being continued by the diocese at a later date. The difficulty is that the diocese cannot guarantee the standard of service that we adopt, with the quality of the teachers, school uniforms, school meals, free learning materials and maintenance of the buildings. Nevertheless, it was agreed to keep talking about taking over responsibility for the school in the medium to long term.
Since the beginning in 2008, our school has developed into a real success story. Starting with 46 children, now for several years there have been 120 pupils in the 5 grades, now almost 200 children have completed the school - some with, some without a final examination. The basic education they received here gives them, with 65% illiteracy in the 10 to 20 generation, a head start in society and the chance to lead a better, self-determined life, despite compulsory schooling - although this cannot be implemented.