Mananivo Development Project

My name is Gabriella Ralaivao. I'm from Vangaindrano, Magadascar. I can proudly say that I managed to get out of poverty thanks to education and the help of others. So I'd like to give the same opportunities to children of my community. This is the first part of a long-term social entrepreneurship, which will be based at Mahabe, Mananivo region, Vangaindrano, Madagascar.

I'm raising funds to help the children of my hometown - Mahabe, and its neighboring villages. My aim is to keep children at school, to attract drop-outs and non-schooled children to enroll in the local school, and to help teachers continue teaching through nutrition, health, sports projects.

The first step includes: repairing the local school, providing school materials and books, and ensuring poor students have the basic learning materials and teachers get enough pay to live own. The government is supposed to pay the salary of public school teachers, but very often they don't get paid, at the time I'm writing, Dec ember 26th 2016, the teachers haven't yet gotten their 6-month salaries. To keep the students in school, we must keep the teachers in school. We will offer a kind of "debt" salary, which they will return in full once they get their salary, to ensure the teachers will not stop teaching. The second step consists in building a canteen for providing breakfast and lunch to the pupils and the staff of Mahabe primary school. Part of the funds will be used for buying kitchen wares, cooking oil etc, some food, 2 fridges, 2 freezers, appliances, solar panels, inverter and battery bank etc for electricity. This component includes buying a plot of land to start a vegetable garden to be taken care of by the students themselves, buying a rice field for rice production for the school canteen, running a small animal farm (poultry for eggs, meat and organic fertilizer, and three cows for milk and organic fertilizer). Note that the rice cultivation type will be rice-pisciculture for double harvest: rice + fish. I got the idea of rice cultivation for school canteen from first-hand experience during my primary school years when the president of our country back then dedicated funds for rice cultivation, canteen and canned fish provision for rural primary schools. So I know very well that students are keen to attend school when they know they will learn with a full stomach and less worries. Many students there go to school with an empty stomach as most of the parents are poor. The canteen is not a fish bait, but a means to help them become more focussed on their study, which will improve school results. The second step will be to build a health center for the pupils and the local community. To study well, students need to have a healthy body and a healthy mind, but most of all, their carer/parents have to be healthy too to ensure the students will focuss more on their study, will not miss a class because a parent is ill etc. My father is a retired army doctor, and he wants to spend the rest of his days working for and supervising the healthcare project. He has never been rich. His salary as a military was low, and he used to treat people for free or on credit then did not get paid, even used his own money to buy medecines for his patients. That's why I was raised in a poor family. He will not earn salary in this project, and will be a valuable worker, guide and advisor. Part of the funds will be used for running the health center, buying medicines, paying the salary of a nurse (one at the start). The services provided will be: basic treatments, birth control methods for parents, evacuation to main public hospital for serious cases, free vaccination through the vaccination campaign of the government. Note that the treatments will be free for schooled children only, but will not be free for their parents and people from the outside, as our aim is to become financially independent in the long-term. However, we will apply affordable fees. The third step is to create a local football and basketball club, build football and basketball fields, organizing sport contests, buying sports equipment. It also goes towards the "healthy body and healthy mind" objective.

This project means a lot to me. We have a saying in Madagascar: "Education is the best inheritance". Madagascar is ranked 3rd on the list of poor countries. For many children, this is the only way I've seen success through education, and I'm sure some, if not all, of the children of the Mananivo region can find a successful life if we give them the chance to complete their primary education.


I'll implementing the project step by step, so a soon as I have sufficient fund for one initiative, I'll start. The fund will be used according to the approximate amount for each initiative. will enable them to continue their education and go further in life. I'm very humanitarian, and have always dedicated times and money for others. Alone, I did a few things, but with the help of others, I'll be able to fix many things and achieve long-lasting results.

I believe in the universal love. Any human on earth can help any human in any part of this world. I will give back and help fund any other promising development and/or humanitarian projects. I will also share my experience with this development project, will be keen to give ideas and advice. If asked to, will attend conferences to talk about our initiatives etc. I'll also receive any volunteers and host them for free.