NEW SCHOOL YEAR AND SUCCESS! MADAWORKS’ FIRST GRADUATE! SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION UPDATES…

Madaworks has a graduate! Julie Rakotozafy, the first girl supported by Madaworks, has successfully achieved her baccalaureate and graduated high school this July. This is an outstanding accomplishment considering that in Madagascar, out of 2000 children who begin kindergarten only one will graduate high school. Bravo to Julie! She is from Sahavondrona, a small village on the western edge of Ranomafana National Park. The women’s basketry weaving collective, the Maeva cooperative of Sahavondrona, is one of the groups that Madaworks supports.

A promising and diligent student, Julie was at the top of her class. When Madaworks was created, she was nearly finished with high school but her family could no longer pay for her to complete her degree. Madaworks provided the initial funding to complete her year and Rima Madan and her group at Stony Brook University; Students Helping Malagasy Students, helped complete it. Their donation, through Madaworks, enabled Julie to finish her senior year.

She wants to continue onto university in the fall and hopes to find funding for university through grants that Madaworks may be able to connect her with.

Our Scholarship Committee is working hard on evaluating and selecting the two candidates who will receive our scholarships for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year. We will have the final decision in the next few weeks. A ceremony for the girls and their families will take place at Centre ValBio. Stay tuned for more to come!

More coming soon!