Due to the general ban on entering Madagascar due to CORONA, we were again unable to take on the necessary measures for the start of the new school year this year. We have therefore again commissioned our nephew Gérard and the driver Emile, who has been working for us for decades, to procure the necessary learning and teaching material for all students and teachers in Antananarivo and to bring it to Ambalafenomby.

The crisis, especially the worldwide restrictions on overseas transport, also resulted in a bottleneck in the availability of exercise books and the procurement of the necessary annual quantity - approx. 1500 pieces - for all students was a challenge, but one that was mastered.

The inter-provincial travel ban was lifted a week before the start of the school year, allowing for timely delivery of books, notebooks, blackboards and stationery to school. Gérard was then also able to obtain the list of materials for the canteen in Fianarantsoa made by Isabelle and René.



Lessons during the school year were carried out in compliance with the hygiene measures - frequent hand washing, wearing masks, avoiding close physical contact - apart from a few weeks of interruption due to the nationwide closure of all schools, so far - without the possibility of testing recognizable - without illness of students or teachers .

Madagascar has been identified by the UN's Welthungerhilfe as the country hardest hit by famine, along with Yemen and Somalia. This is especially true for the southern part of the island, starting around 50km - 100km south of Fianarantsoa. The effects of starvation refugees and food shortages, especially of course rice, the staple food, again presented a problem for procurement. Not only the enormously increased price, but also the availability required a lot of skill from Isabelle and René to still provide the daily food for the students to secure.

The year 2021 was spared from severe hurricanes - cyclones, "Eloise" in January and "Jobo" in April did not cause any major damage. Over the course of the 2021/2022 school year. in January and February 2022, Cyclones Ana, Batsirai, Dumako and Ennati hit Madagascar – fortunately not the Fianarantsoa region at full force.

The solid construction and regular maintenance have prevented major damage to the school buildings. The consequences for the rice harvest are once again dramatic - after the drought, the floods of rain washed away the topsoil with the stunted plants, so that the first harvest in 2022 (March/April) was only very small.

(see also Google: Welthungerhilfe Madagascar)