Changing lives in the village of Fiarenana

Dear friends,

If you considered donating to Zahana again in the 2009 tax year, now (until Dec 1) might be a very good time.

Two of our current projects have been invited to join the Give More - Get More Challenge and GlobalGiving will match your contributions incrementally.

Please help us getting these matching funds. Please tell your friends and encourage them to give too.

The challenge details:

November 10 to December 1 (but ends Dec 1 at 12:59 EST, not your time zone!)

Matches are staggered based on the amount we raise, or in other words: The more of the total amount of all donations* we raise the bigger the match. We raise up to $2,500: donations will be matched at 30%. We raise $2,501 - $7,500: donations will be matched at 40%. We raise more than $7,501: donations will be matched at 50%.

The three projects that raise the most money will receive additional bonuses of $5,000, $3,000, and $1,000.

* Donations up to $500 per individual will be matched by GlobalGiving, so the matching funds don't get depleted too fast.

Links:

• The community builds their school
• More details at the GlobalGiving Give more – Get more Website

Hot off the digital press: Zahana and its founder Dr. Ramihanataniarivo are features in the latest issue of the University of Hawaii Magazine Malamalama (Malamalama means 'the light of knowledge' in Hawaiian). We have included the link below and we encourage you to use their “Leave a Response: feature.

With the communal water well successfully built the community is now putting all their energy into building their school. The photos we got from Madagascar are amazing and we encourage you to visit our website (link below) to witness this truly community wide effort (pictures indeed tell more than a thousand words).

Zahana is currently interviewing the candidates for teachers. As soon as the best candidate has been found in consultation with community representatives, a teacher’s training will be conducted in the village for a month.

NURSERY The coffee seedlings have grown since the last report and are soon ready to be transplanted in time for the beginning of the rainy season. Surrounding communities have already expressed interest in growing coffee as well and have been encouraged to get in touch with the nurseryman to buy their seedlings, since Zahana is not in a position to give seedlings away for free to everybody.

GRAIN STORAGE BUILDING: The grain or rice storage building has been finished and has been in use since the last harvest in May/June 2009. The bags in the back of the picture are the rice seeds acquired by Zahana for the rice seed bank. In the other picture the potatoes, another microcredit project from Zahana, are handed out one kilo at a time per family.

Links:

• University of Hawaii Magazine: Malamalama 10/09
• Building their school - Slideshow
• Fiadanana Zahana web page