Betsileo Family Values
by Harilala Rakotomanana
July 5, 2005

In highland of Madagascar, in the province of Fianarantsoa, there is a little village called Fandriana. Many of the intellectual staff in many firms or government members or some association leaders are from this little village. Life in Fandriana is very hard: land is very hard to cultivate. There is no industry so most of the people do not have a regular income sources. The arable area is little so people rely only on subsistence agriculture. In consequence, parents do not have enough money to raise their children. Some rich people in the family help each other to educate the poor family members. That is why family ties are very important for Malagasy people. My mother is one of these cases. She was born in Fandriana. She had two sisters but she is the only one who studied at the university. My maternal grandmother was not rich and she raised her 3 children alone. But some family members helped her. So my mother became a teacher in a secondary school and we had a new, but modest, life. She told me all the time that learning guaranties a good heritage, so learn as long as you can.