In rural Madagascar, 90% of the population are living in extreme poverty and are often pushed to destroy their unique environment in order to survive. We believe that access to a decent education is vital if Madagascar’s children are to gain the skills and knowledge required to support themselves sustainably, contribute to their communities and face societal challenges ahead. Sadly, lack of government funding for education has meant that most rural schools have fallen into disrepair with demotivated staff and a total lack of educational resources. Many have less than five books for the whole school. It’s hard to keep up your motivation to learn to read when you have no books to practice with!

As part of our integrated ‘Education for Life’ programme, MfM is providing rural schools with new libraries to feed hungry young minds and give dispirited teachers a chance to enhance their lessons. Giving these children a chance to access books will open up a whole new world of possibilities to them. They will be able to support their studies with reference books and to discover the pleasure of reading stories. Staff and pupils will be supported in using their new libraries and taking care of the books and resources. We know these libraries will make a huge difference to teaching and learning. Schools where new libraries have already been established have already seen increased motivation and improved exam results. We are excited that we can bring these benefits to three more rural schools.