The Madagascar 2012 Expedition will follow 14 years of world travel and community projects organised by The Coopers' Company and Coborn School. In 2012 a group of 34 year 12 and 13 students will spend one month in Madagascar, with the aim of completing the building of a secondary school block in the Merina village of Andranosoa. Pupils will also spend time experiencing the vulnerable wildlife, people and landscapes of what is a unique country by travelling to the west coast via a 3 day canoe journey along the Tsiribihina river, visiting the Tsingy de Bemaraha, Kirindy Forest and the Avenue de Baobab. As a team, we are hoping to raise £20,000 to cover costs for the charity project. The aim of this blog is to provide information about Madagascar, the team and the fund-raising project. Please visit the pages shown on the right to learn more about the expedition.

Thursday 5 April 2012

School Construction Underway

I Have just returned to Antananarivo after three days staying in Andranosoa, the site of our School Building Project. Here are some photos with a commentary from my time in the village:
Andranosoa is a large village with a population of 1,300, 425 of whom are children under the age of 16.

The majority of people life in 2-storey traditional mud and wood houses, typical of the local Merina tribe. Although a lot of houses have now got an electricity supply, they only use it for lighting. Water comes from communal taps fed from a local reservoir and all toilets are outside. Cooking is done inside the house using charcoal stoves.

Most of the villagers are farmers with rice and zebu the main produce.



The principal purpose of the trip was to oversee the start of building work on the site of the new school. After meeting the Mayor and President of the village on Tuesday, they gave the go-ahead for work to start on Wednesday. Over 50 local men turned up to start digging the foundations.



Today (Thursday) saw the official ceremony of the laying of the first stones with the Mayor, President and Roland (Project Manager).
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