New and Improved Local Schools
by Luke Dollar
June 29, 2005

In January and February, 2004, three cyclones (S hemisphere hurricanes) hit Madagascar, crisscrossing the island for a total of at least five separate strikes. Though human loss was relatively low, damage to the Ankarafantsika forest and some local structures was rather heavy. You can read about our first post-cyclone impressions of the forest in our 2004 dispatches. Also, the local school, in nearby Andranofasika, was rather ravaged. Left with broken blackboards, crushed desks, unhinged shutters and doors, and without a roof, the school wasn’t functioning for the remainder of the 2003-4 school year. The other four schools around the edges of the park didn’t fare much better. With financial help from the team staff plus a few Earthwatch volunteers and administrative help from the local town councils, we were able to physically and fiscally help in the reconstructions. By the end of September 2004, in order to begin the 2004-5 academic year, the schools were finished. It was great to see the Andranofasika school all finished during market day today. New desks, blackboards, better (metal) shutters and doors and a new roof make the new school one of the best facilities in town.