Marmaille French Primary School in Mangily, Madagascar
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La Marmaille is a French-language primary school located in southwestern Madagascar (30 km north of Toliara). This school, which has 400 students in attendance, was started by Madame Angellia Razanadrainy. Previously, Mdm. Razanadrainy was a librarian at a local non-profit organization, but she became frustrated with the low levels of literacy in local children. Moreover, she recognized that students who were proficient in French were able to carry on studies past the primary level (available only in Toliara), and that this enables them to have better job prospects in future. Thus, Mdm. Razanadrainy undertook a big project- starting her own primary school in Mangily, where children learn to read in both Malagasy and French!
In addition to both local languages, the students at Marmaille learn about environmentalism, conservation of nature and the importance of endemic wildlife- topics that are generally not covered in school curriculum in Madagascar. Prior to COVID-19 this was in part facilitated by staff and interns at ONG Reniala Lemur Rescue Center. |
Madame Angellia Razanadrainy.
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Lemur Love, along with Mountains and Monkeys Adventure Travel, visited Marmaille in July, 2019. We were wholly impressed with the level of environmental knowledge the children had! The facilities are very basic- there is no electricity or running water- but the classrooms are clean and bustling with energy. Additionally, the classrooms are full to capacity, and there is no central room or building where all children can gather. In late 2019 and early 2020 we raised over $4000USD to facilitate building a new structure at Marmaille that can hold all of the children in general assembly, and function as a central location for furthering environmental stewardship. |
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As of May 2020, this building is now nearing completion. These children, the students at Marmaille, are our environmental stewards of the future. We believe that this basic infrastructure will enhance current and future students learning, which will enable them to take ownership in environmentalism, and in turn further our goals of protecting lemurs in their natural environments. Moreover, Lemur Love believes in supporting and amplifying the efforts of Malagasy women who are making change possible!