Photo update: Madagascar highlights
I’ve finally finished uploading photos from the last year in Madagascar over on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielgwood/collections/72157639075496673/.
Tag: pioneer
One Year in Madagascar
In a few days I’ll be back in Heathrow after an unforgettable year in Madagascar. It’s hard to describe any time in this beautiful country without employing a few clichés. The people continue to amaze me with their resilience, ever-present smiles and welcoming friendliness. Sure, as a vazaha you attract more than a few curious […]
Soanierana finished
Back in January, we broke ground on the most exciting project of my year with Azafady in Madagascar: Soanierana CEG. A two-room brick and concrete school building, it would add capacity to an overcrowded middle school attended by around 560 students. With just 4 classrooms available before we started, most students were receiving just half […]
Memory lane – Emagnevy
I first came to Madagascar as a short-term construction volunteer, way back in April 2012. Having fundraised almost £2,000 (thanks to generous donations from my family and friends), I joined Azafady’s Pioneer programme for three amazing weeks, and spent the time repairing a wooden primary school (read the old blog posts here). For me it […]
Soaeigna: Urban sanitation
Open defecation occurs where people have no choice but to defecate outside, onto the ground, often in full view of other people1. It affects around 15% of the World’s population, almost entirely in poor areas. Besides being unpleasant to live with, it’s very bad for the health of the community – flies and other pests […]
Soanierana update
A quick update on Azafady’s school build in Soanierana: On the 12th of May, the April Pioneers (and short-term construction volunteers) began their first bush placement at Soanierana. Since I was last there in February, a lot of progress had been made: the walls were rendered, the floors of the classrooms rock-woven to provide foundations, […]
Woods of Madagascar
So proud of my parents for joining me for two weeks of short-term construction volunteering! Happy 30th Anniversary, you two are awesome.
Walking with Lemurs
For the last two weeks of the January Pioneer scheme, we once again joined the Azafady Conservation Programme (ACP), to help out with the research and other activities there. Always a popular placement with the volunteers, it’s also one of my favourite parts of Pioneer – spending time in the beautiful littoral forests of Sainte […]
Photo update
I’ve just added a load of photos from the last scheme to Flickr, including rather a lot of lemurs. Enjoy! Flickr Photostream | Madagascar 2013 albums
Mahialambo school repair
As part of the January Pioneer scheme, we went to the village of Mahialambo, in Mahatalaky commune, to carry out another wooden school repair. As before in Agnena, Belavenoka and Emagnevy, we replaced damaged parts of the walls, added a protective verandah around the outside, and repainted everything for additional weatherproofing. With the repairs complete, […]