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Famine in Madagascar

As some of you will have heard, the famine in the South of the country is getting worse. In Malagasy they have a special word, kéré, for this type of severe famine which destroys the land and life. Some of the NGOs who are still in the country have started to act, see https://insight.wfp.org/madagascar-drought-and-covid-19-push-1-5-million-to-the-brink-9968c776fa99

This week we had a call with Bishop Todd and Assistant Bishop Sami who have put together a plan in the Diocese of Toliara to help the villages where they are struggling to survive. We got direct news from the economic director of the Diocese, Ialy, who lost his cousin and her family this past week.

https://dioceseoftoliara.org/en/severe-famine-in-the-south-of-madagascar/

Bishop Sami told me that the main river in the south has now dried up completely so they have to bring water from 400 km away. The diocese has a plan to send rice and beans to the villages, for which they have initial funds, but if anyone would like to help we can send funds via St Mark’s cultural association or you can of course help via the other organisations like UNICEF and the WFP). If you want to give via St Mark’s please contact the church treasurer Ian Wray.