Helping a school, one desk at a time

Stepping onto the cracked cement courtyard, dust swirling through the air, I couldn’t help smiling at the cheeky schoolchildren yelling, “Mbola tsara!” in our direction. Greeting the headmaster in a series of French and English quips (aided by a volunteer Malagasy translator), we set to work touring the mammoth 1,043 student facility located just blocks

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7 facts you need to know about taxi rides in Madagascar

Once you’re tired of walking around a city, as a tourist, you may be tempted to have a taxi-ride… So let’s try to give you some tips in order to make it a memorable and funny ride The following isn’t about the”agreed” taxis parking outside big hotels and at the airport , we’re talking here

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Write for madafan.com, free publicity for your Madagascar tourism activity while getting published on different networks

Madafan always wanted to be a platform where anyone who travelled or lived in Madagascar can share their experience, their recommendations (as well as the “avoid it” places/activities) that Madafan readers ought to know, though setting-up a vibrant community of  Madagascar-fans. We definitely aim to have everybody fom every corner of Madagascar write articles about

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Two spots for catching a wave or hitting the surf in Madagascar

So I’ve visited the “Destination Vacances” expo that was held at “La Résidence” last week-end. The idea was to get some inspiration for this coming holidays, and I dare say I wasn’t disappointed. I guess  I’ll have more post inspired by the event but here are few options you can consider. For now, let’s focus

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Category Archives: References

Antandroy: a great movie of two people’s encounter

As I browse the internet (or should I say “wander from a social media platform to another”?), I stumble on gems about Madagascar that are worth resharing. That’s the case for this encounter between surfers and the Lavanono villagers. You

Jean Emilien:seeking for help for having attendees plant trees as entry fees to his concert

How come such a Malagasy artist who has received a worldwide recognition is barely known by Malagasy? This guy a toured the world with his music, played with the big guys (opend Carlos Santana’s concert in Paris), is a world

Erik Hersman: own the africa narrative

“ingenuity born of necessity” Erik came up with a long list of different examples of ingenuity coming from Africa: a mobile phone charging system made by a bicycle dynamo, a biogaz system, or a mobile-security system, to name a few.

Anja Besson TEDx talk: the intruder?

Anja Besson is a designer who participates into TEDxTana that took place in Antananarivo - Madagascar. Learn more about what "ideas worth sharing" she talked about.

Miora Rajaonary: a call for paper providers

Miora has made a point during her presentation: PAPMAD, the only paper manufacturing specialized on recycling is calling for every unit to provide them with raw material to work with. So far this plant is only working 6 month per

Alice Plane from Ashoka: on preimplementation mode for Madagascar

The difficult part about presenting people who work for entities is to find the fine line between the person and what the organisation do. Alice Plane first: Born in Lille in 1984, she has a lot of interest for Russia

Toughstuff:a system based on trade,not aid

Malagasy rural people call their product “tôftôf”, you guessed it, we’re talking about ToughStuff a solar-power device used for lighting and small appliances distributed throughout Madagascar via old 2CV vehicles and bicycles. I always wondered the reason for the “TOUGH”

Saving the Sokeka tortoises

“60 000 tortoises are consumed by local and international market every year in Madagascar. This endemic specie will disappear in 20 years if nothing is done about it. ” Sadly, this kind of alert is “common” for a lot of

Adriaan Mol: less charity, more business

The interesting point with Adriaan is that he's been working inside donor-funded projects too (and for a long time), however, he is convinced that aid doesn't work, that it ends as soon as the donors' money is other and that

Rabary Désiré – I stand before you begging the world to do more than write about our problems in Madagascar

We must be strong and fearless in the face of continued corruption and habitat disturbance inside of Madagascar's precious National Parks. I have been warned before many times that it is dangerous to reveal the truth. But I believe very