Saving Old City Fianarantsoa

It is a pity to read this. However, the economic conditions of the local people ( all over Madagascar) are so poor that I really doubt whether they would pay any attention to the issue discussed here. The government may help but please remember they don't have money themselves.
I remember I went to extend my visa in one of the governmental offices in the capital city - Antananrivo. It was a complex of buildings. The shabiness revealed to my eyes was so astounding . I really can't believe the government has any financial sources to solve the problem mentioned above while they themselves have to handle the bad economy of their country.
I would really urge people who travelled in Madgascar and fell in love with it to go to some of the institutes caring for small children and poor people and donate some little money. I did it and if there were many more, we would be able to ease their tragedy.

The local people are actually quite engaged in this project, in spite of having little or no money. The details are on the project website at http://www.madagascaroldcity.info, but here are a couple of relevant points:

This, from the text of the e-mail I received:

"Dear Friends of Fianarantsoa and Madagascar,

The Program to Save the Old City has made amazing progress this year. We've built nearly 70 latrines (each of which serves 2-3 families), have reroofed some twenty houses, have rebuilt part of the market and rehabilitated several major walk and stair-ways. We're working now on rehabilitating the neighborhood (fokontany) office building.

But perhaps our biggest advance has been the most invisible : residents are, for the first time, starting to feel pride in the site. We could really tell last week as made a major blitz effort to turn trash dumps into gardens after the first rains. In whatever part of the neighborhood we turned up, residents turned out to help ..... Now instead of plants disappearing by the next day, we find that new "gifts" have been added to our pocket gardens the next time we walk by.

This is a key moment in the life of this community. We're really trying to achieve the maximum results over the next six to nine months. Our interventions have come up short especially regarding roof repair and we have a very long waiting list of families who have begun to contribute their share of the roof rehabilitation. If we don't come up with funds to continue roofing after the rainy season, we'll have to give them back their money (or reimburse them for the labor already contributed) and, regretfully, inform them that we have no way to help at this time.

So, we'd be grateful if you'd share this gift idea with anyone whom you think might like to participate. We're especially hoping to raise the funds needed to allow poor families to participate...they will still contribute in labor, but any contributions we receive will cover the deficit that happens because poor families can't contribute cash. A "share" to re-roof a house is about $200. But, we're happy to have partial shares, or whatever people can donate at this time. We know that many of you have already leant a helping hand, and we're certainly not opportuning you again! But, perhaps you know other people who would be interested in contributing to this project that will have long term benefits in saving Madagascar's threatened cultural heritage, while having very palpable immediate benefits on a struggling community.

With very best wishes to one and all,

Karen

Karen Freudenberger
Program to Save the Old City of Fianarantsoa
Fianarantsoa, Madagascar
freudenberger@moov.mg"

If you want to help, just e-mail Karen and let her know how much you're able to contribute and whether it would be in a US or Madagascar bank, and she'll respond with the appropriate banking details.

What your money will do, from the project website:

"One of our most significant, but under funded interventions helps homeowners to rehabilitate the tile roofs on their century old homes. Those who can afford to do so pay up to half the cost of the reparation in monthly installments over 12 months (averaging about 20 000 Ariary, or $16 per month).

Many of the residents live on less than $1 per capita per day, however, and cannot afford to pay their share in cash. These families can instead participate in labor that is used for activities that will benefit the entire community (garden maintenance, drainage ditch clearing, litter removal, etc). While this is an important part of our program, helping these poor families costs more and limits the number of houses we can restore.

Your contribution will allow us to expand our intervention to meet the needs of the poorest families at the site. $200 will cover the financial contribution of a poor family. These families will still pay off their share in labor, but your contribution will cover the financial deficit so that we can extend our help to other families who need it."

I would be less pessimistic.

Being in Fianar right now, I was very surprised to see rather extensive restaurations in the Old City - in fact the only such restauration work I have seen anywhere in Madagascar!
The place certainly deserves it, and Lonely Planet's dismissive comments on this city are ridiculous. This must be another place their author never even bothered to visit!

What does the Lonely Planet say about Fianar ?

That it is not even worth visiting, lacks any charm, but is an inevitable place to pass through.

Seems to me a bit strange. After all Fianar is not very different from other Malagasy towns and it is the countryside around to make things interesting. I would like to believe the author does not compare it to Paris for example !
Yeah, sometimes the LP makes certain comments mystifying to common sense,

I would even go as far as saying that Fianar's old city is the finest in the country!
Certainly much more impressive than Ambavalao, which LP describes a beautiful.