Christmas in Madagascar

December 26, 2011 What a wonderful gift it’s been to spend the holidays here with Alex, the director and founder of the Centre! Hi, I’m Daniel, a young American who is volunteering for a month here at Centre Ankanifitahiana in the capital city of Madagascar. I arrived here at Madagascar a little more than a week ago, and Alex came and picked me up at the airport, and even though the flight was an hour late, he didn’t mention anything. He’s really shown me the meaning of family here at the orphanage, saying that starting Day 1, who ever comes and volunteers here immediately becomes part of the Family. I’m sure, for a man like Alex, a former orphan himself, the word Family has enormous importance. But what fun I’ve been having! On the 23rd, we had our Christmas party, a daylong festival featuring each class dancing and performing, a display of all the donated toys we received from the Soroptimist Club (giving every child one toy, one big piece of candy, and often clothes as well.) It’s hard, when you have 300 kids, to make sure everyone gets a present! But every single one did for Christmas, and that’s the kind of blessing the Centre is to the children here. On Christmas Eve, we all dressed up (Alex as Santa Claus, or as they call it here, Dada Père Noël), and everyone else as Santa’s Helpers, and with heavy sacks laden with toys, we hit the streets, giving presents to every child that goes to our school at their own home. It was shocking on many levels- to see the poverty that so many Malagasy live in, to see the mass number of kids that would swarm us. For every child that we gave a present to, there for 30 street children that didn’t get anything but a small sweet that Alex handed out. It was beautiful and touching and tragic and sorrowful. We walked 7 hours under the hot Malagasy sun but we maintained our good spirits, singing the French version of the song “The Lion sleeps Tonight” (Martine, another volunteer, talk every kid in the school how to sing the song, and we sang it on the 23rd during the Christmas party.) It’s easy to see how much good Alex and the Centre are doing, but there’s so much more work to do! The best way to help, if you can’t come out and volunteer, is to become a Sponsor of a child. It amazes me that the Centre runs on just about $500/month, all of which Alex pays with his second job. In becoming a Sponsor, not only do you get to help provide for the necessities of a child, but help run and operate this large 300+ orphanage. To be a sponsor is a financial donation of $20/month, and this helps the child be well fed (most children here are undernourished and 13-year-olds look like they’re 10, 10-year-olds look like they’re 7, etc.) This monetary aid also helps them dream- one of the children I befriended is named Manche, and she’s 13, and she dreams of becoming a flight attendant. Thanks for reading, and I hope to write at least once more before I leave Alex and the Centre to return to my normal life. Blessings, Daniel