Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. It sits off the East coast of Africa and has done for millions of years resulting in a unique habitat with many unique animals and plants. After a period as a French colony it became an independant repulic in 1960. It is very poor and the island suffers from massive deforestation and climate change. There is an ongoing famine. Anosy in the South is the poorest region and the center of the current drought.
Andy, a long time ST4A member volunteered with SEED, a charity centred in Madagascar, for 10 weeks on a range of construction projects in South-East rural Madagascar. Madagascar is one of the few countries in the world that is poorer than it was 50 years ago and the Anosy region in the south-east is the poorest area in the country. In some rural areas infant mortality can mean that 4 in 10 children die before their 5th birthday.
The work involved building new schools, wells, and toilet blocks, and making desks and chairs. The quality of tools available for use was appalling! The tools consisted of cheap metal hammers and chisels that were poorly made and readily broke, blunt hard-point saws, rusty planes, broken screwdrivers, and tape measures, – the list went on and on.
He was determined to do something to help make the efforts of local staff and volunteers more effective and safer. He undertook an audit of the existing tools and identified the likely requirements for future projects. On his return to Sheffield, our group prepared small packages of refurbished high-quality tools, that the next group of volunteers, (or Tool Mules as they became known), travelling out to Madagascar could put in their hold luggage.
Since then ST4A have sent out over 300 quality tools and which have help support SEED’s rolling programme of school refurbishment and rebuilding.
If you have tools to donate or can help us re-furbish them please get in touch….
To find out more about SEED and the work they do please click the link below.