Kids in School project

The issues

Many families and children in Madagascar are so poor they cannot afford to send the children to school. Many of them live on the streets, in unimaginable slum conditions with no sanitation and running water, let alone enough food. Basic education is a luxury item out of reach for many people.

Thrive Madagascar’s solution

Thrive Madagascar believes that education is one of the most effective methods to prevent ongoing poverty and it is a vital investment in every child’s future. Educated adults have better employment skills, usually earn more income, and are better equipped to set up businesses. Education is at the core of all our services to the poor of Madagascar so that they can learn how to feed themselves and empower each other.

Thrive Madagascar’s KIDS IN SCHOOL project identifies poor communities and selects the poorest families, paying the school fees for the children. As a result of large numbers of children needing education and limited funds, basic criteria have been outlined. These are based on factors such as the parents’ efforts to support their family and children’s education. Our hope is that as the children become adults, they will help their families to break the cycle of poverty and also empower others as they remember how they were once helped.

As well as paying for the school fees, we have found it essential to provide children with breakfast. To have one meal a day in Madagascar is a luxury for many. In the beginning, many of the children whose education we sponsor, were so hungry during the school they could not concentrate on their school work. When we started giving them breakfast every morning, all the children became more actively involved in their school work and all of them passed their exams!

We need more help

There are currently over 120 children whose education is being sponsored through KIDS IN SCHOOL program, yet every time we visit the communities, there are always more children that need to be added. And there are more communities we have not yet managed to reach where most children do not even attend school! We strongly believe that the more children we can educate, the brighter the future becomes for their whole family.

There are many ways YOU can help! We accept donations of any amount over AUD $2, or you can sponsor a child and provide him/her with a path to a brighter future!