Cyclone Relief Program
Thank you for donating!
On Sunday, March 25, we began our cyclone relief program. We loaded up 4 tons of rice, 500 kilos of beans, 100 kilos of salt and 100 bottles of water purification and drove to Kelilanana where the mayor had gathered all the heads of families together. We provided eighty families from 15 villages with care packages, including letters of condolences with a funeral contribution to 17 individuals who lost their loved ones in the cyclone. Dr. Patricia Wright gave a speech for all who contributed and the mayor thanked everyone in the United States and to the Centre ValBio for helping them in their hours of need. As she spoke to the crowds of people gathered, a misty rain set in, a soadrano, a blessing from the ancestors, and as we concluded giving out each of the packages one by one from the list read by the Mayor, the sun shone, showing that the ancestors were happy with the event. The saddest part of the day was giving out the envelopes to the loved ones of the dead. One 
man lost both a brother and a sister, one woman lost her husband and son. But perhaps the most poignant story was the 18 year old, a local musician and Bamboo dancer. He had come to Centre ValBio for a music workshop with Ambodrona and his band. He had participated eagerly in the workshop only to find out when he went home the next day that a landslide had crushed his house killing his mother and father and four brothers and sisters. He is the only survivor from his family because he came to the CVB workshop. We are helping to keep him in high school. When asked at the workshop what he wanted to do in the future, and he said be a tourist guide in the park.
Our goal is to assist the people of Ranomafana for the next 6 months while new crops are grown. For just $100 a month, we can provide food for a family of five or rebuild a home. Thank you to all who have made this possible! Cyclone Irina 
devastated the already struggling villages of Madagascar in the region of Ranomafana, an area consisting of over 100 villages in eastern Madagascar. Approximately 75,000 villagers are homeless and 80% of the area and their agriculture were severely damaged. Centre ValBio is the main NGO in this area; together we work with the Madagascar National Parks and the Mayor’s office to help in disasters. We are fortunate to have partnered with the Dumond Conservancy to get emergency relief funds to the Ranomafana Area. These funds will be used to help those in the Ranomafana that were affected by the cyclone.
