Just NB

I thought this story was the biggest peice of crap and lies...then when I did some quick research...I found that it's true! Fady (or taboos) are taken very, very seriously. I'm still surprised that this fady exists. IN a remote corner of Madagascar lies one of the world’s most incredible orphanages. The tropical island is known as the idyllic setting for the animated movie of the same name but the isolated institution has remained hidden to the outside world — until now. A safe house for abandoned twins from the Antambahoaka tribe, they are lost infants demonised by an ancient curse that leads to their murder at the hands of the people they expected to love them most: Their PARENTS . “There are many old ways that have been used to kill newborn twins up here in the mountains,” says Latif, our local guide, shivering in horror at the thought of generations of dead children buried in the spongy rainforest floor beneath our feet. Latif says: “Traditionally, the ‘matchi...

Antananarivo — About one in seven residents of Madagascar's main port city of Toamasina are sex workers. In less than 20 years, the number of registered sex workers in the city of about 200,000 residents has climbed from 17,000 in 1993 to 29,000 in 2012. The increase has been driven by rising poverty levels as well as the city's proximity to the recently opened Ambatovy nickel mine. Construction of the mine, coupled with recent improvements to the port, saw an influx of thousands of foreign workers. The billion-dollar investments also resulted in an escalation in living costs and the collapse of traditional commercial activities like the collection and sale of cloves and coffee, pushing more young women into sex work. "Girls come from the countryside to work as maids. Then, when they have a problem with their employer, other girls from their region introduce them to prostitution," Germaine Razafindravao, the president of the local sex worker collective FIVEMITO ...

Google Translate doesn’t always work the best, but I can’t find any articles in English. Article Source Google Translated version: According to the statement from the company operating Ambatovy has not yet officially received the license to operate which will go into production. Also, the Company has decided to curtail the activities of contractors who are not directly related to the completion of commissioning and testing techniques of plant Toamasina. According to this statement, “Ambatovy notified date (note: yesterday) subcontractors and suppliers of a possible future reduction in non-core activities during the period of completion of commissioning and testing techniques. Ambatovy continues its dialogue with the Government of Madagascar for licensure. For now, regular activities continue as usual. Ambatovy not considering layoffs of employees for the time since the company expects to receive the permit as soon as possible. “ This announcement follows another statement dated Aug...

South Africa: Allegations Are False -Ravalomanana   Johannesburg — Exiled Malagasy president Marc Ravalomanana on Tuesday dismissed as false allegations that he committed crimes against humanity. South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority had told him it was common cause that he "did not himself participate in any of the incidents", Ravalomanana said in a statement. The NPA is required by law to investigate the allegations. "A purposeful attempt is being made to mislead South Africans into thinking that I am guilty of a crime and this is simply untrue," Ravalomanana said. Andry Rajoelina ousted Ravalomanana in March 2009 in a military-backed coup, precipitating a political crisis. Ravalomanana was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for the killing of 40 peaceful protesters by his presidential guard in protests shortly before his overthrow. He blamed the regime in Madagascar, and said it was trying to prevent his return to contest e...

Again, this is Google translated. Not able to find English news articles. Original source Quite a lot of the “facts” are not true….but that’s Malagasy media for you…. Verification of the impacts of “Ambatovy” cunning of central government or shift? An urgent appeal “For Repair Damage and Human and Environmental Accountability for Increased Society Sherritt Ambatovy”, initiated by the Collective TANY had been sent by many people to high authorities and officers of Sherritt-Ambatovy May 2012. No concrete action has been taken neither one side nor the other. Instead, the central government had issued a provisional operating license for six months. Why six months? If there was any doubt, why not have readily applied the precautionary principle? In recent days, the authorities announced that they will issue the operating permit - “license to operate” - according to survey findings that international consulting firm perform on “impact on people and the environment” and a “bu...

ANTANANARIVO - Malagascar's political groups have different views on signatories of roadmap aimed at resolving the political crisis in the country, the South African Development Community (SADC) said in a statement Sunday. South Africa's Deputy Minister of Cooperation and International Relations Marius Fransman, who led the SADC delegation in mission in Madagascar since Friday, said at a press conference that Malagasy stakeholders, especially the political groups, had also different views on the return of former president Marc Ravalomanana to Madagascar. The Malagasy stakeholders have different of view on the implementation of the article 20 and 45 of the roadmap. The article 20 urges the president of the transition Andry Rajoelina and his supporters to allow without condition Ravalomanana to come back to Madagascar. However the article 45 said that the article 20 does not mean cancellation of Malagasy court decision taken in 2010, condemning Ravalomanana to do hard labor f...

"ANTANANARIVO — The wife of Madagascar's ousted leader Marc Ravalomanana was deported and put on a flight to Thailand Friday, hours after she landed at the island nation's capital, her son said. "They pushed my mum out of the country," Tojo Ravalomanana told AFP. Her husband's lawyer, Hanitra Razafimanantsoa, said: "They sent her to Bangkok. She called from the plane. She doesn't have a visa or any money." The head of Ravalomanana's political movement, Mamy Rakotoarivelo, earlier told AFP that she had been detained on arrival but was later released at the order of Prime Minister Omer Beriziky. The former president and his wife have repeatedly tried and failed to enter the country. Their son Tojo has been living on the island. Since his ouster in 2009, Ravalomanana has been living in exile in South Africa. His wife attempted to return following this week's talks between Ravalomanana and Andry Rajoelina, the country's current...

"RPT-Madagascar rivals fail to agree on leader's return from exile * South Africa's Zuma mediated talks between the rivals * Island under pressure to resolve crisis 3 years after coup * Madagascar economy, tourism hit by crisis By George Thande VICTORIA, July 26 (Reuters) - Rivals for Madagascar's presidency, in talks to end political turmoil, failed to agree terms under which the island's former leader could return from self-imposed exile, officials at the talks said on Thursday. Madagascar has been in crisis since 2009 when then-opposition leader Andry Rajoelina ousted president Marc Ravalomanana, who was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for the killings of demonstrators by elite troops in the coup. Rajoelina has agreed with Ravalomanana that he could return but that he would face imprisonment. He flew to meet Ravalomanana in South Africa on Monday hours after the Madagascan army quelled a mutiny in a barracks near the capital's airport. The impover...

"The president of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, is holding face-to-face talks for the first time with the man he ousted in 2009. Marc Ravalomanana has lived in South Africa since he was thrown out of office in an army-backed coup. The men are meeting in the Seychelles, with their talks chaired by South Africa's President Jacob Zuma. It is hoped the meeting will resolve years of political crisis in Madagascar. Mr Ravalomanana and Mr Rajoelina signed a roadmap agreement in September 2012 intended to pave the way for elections within a year, but the deal has not yet been seen through. The South African Development Community, which suspended Madagascar's membership following the coup, has given the two men until the end of this month to settle their differences, so a timetable for elections can be unveiled." Article Source

I took down the "MG News" page because it was getting to be a bit too much work. On the side bar of my blog, I've installed that fancy pants "Google News" that lists the top Madagascar stories of the day (unfortunately, over half of them are about the movie! This news article hits home. Nearly a whole year has passed...but I still think about Julien . It makes me mad, it makes me sad, and I sometimes wonder what I could have done differently. No one ever "knew" what Julien had. They treated his symptoms and his health continued to worsen. Maybe he had cancer, we'll never know. But if he did have cancer? His fate likely wouldn't have been any different. Cancer is a hard enough battle to fight in a developped country (where patients can pay tens of thousands of dollars in out of pocket costs), but in a developping country, I'm sad to say, it's a lost battle. ANTANANARIVO, 30 May 2011 (IRIN) - Hospital patients in Madagascar are use...

ANTSOHIHY, 25 May 2012 (IRIN) - The Basic Health Centre or Centre de Santé de Base (CSB) II in Anjalajala, near Antsohihy, the capital of Madagascar's northern Sofia Region, is housed in a recently renovated building and its status as a CSB II promises the availability of a trained doctor. But the doctor left for Antananarivo, the capital, in 2002 and has not been replaced, and whenever the remaining nurse is absent, services stop. A guard sweeping the courtyard explains that currently the health worker is away visiting his mother and will only return in a week. The situation at this clinic is not unique in Madagascar, where an already weak healthcare system has been in a state of decline since 2009 when the international community branded Andry Rajoelina's ousting of President Marc Ravalomanana a coup, and donors halted all but emergency aid . In the absence of donor support, the Malagasy government made dramatic  cuts to its budget for social services. In 2010, expenditure o...

CAPE TOWN — Elections to end a three year political crisis in Madagascar have to be well prepared and credible so that the outcome is internationally accepted, a former mediator said on Thursday. Speaking on the sidelines of a forum of activists and academics, former president of Mozzambique Joaquim Chissano told AFP the elections have to follow the guidelines of the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other global bodies. "So it is very essential that elections take place when conditions are good internally but also that the international community is prepared to accept the outcome of such elections," he said. "Because Madagascar is a member of SADC, so they can't go forward with elections that are not going to be recognised." Madagascar's electoral commission is expected to announce the polling date on May 28, according to a member of the agency. Chissano said that elections would bring "a new atmosphere or politic...

Madagascar passes amnesty law, excludes ousted leader (AFP) Madagascar has passed an amnesty law that blocks ousted leader Marc Ravalomanana from returning country, an official said on Saturday. The law was passed without changes by overwhelming majorities in both the interim parliament government, but excludes human rights violations -- including murder -- from the amnesty. "We are satisfied because we've been waiting for this law for ten years. It will advance the transition Rakotomavo, vice president of the High Transitional Council. A roadmap to new elections brokered by regional bloc the Southern African Development Community island's main political factions in November. It allows the return of exiled leaders, including Ravalomanana, who was ousted in March 2009 by Andry Rajoelina in an army-backed coup after weeks of protests. The amnesty law has been seen as a key step toward allowing his return ahead of new polls, but the implicitly excludes Ravalomanana f...

ANTSOHIHY, 4 May 2012 (IRIN) - Daughters as young as 12 in the villages surrounding Antsohihy, the capital of Sofia Region, in Madagascar's remote, traditional north, often suffer the harmful consequences of falling pregnant and giving birth too young when parents accept zebus (cattle) or cash as a dowry. Noeline Razafindradera, 16, wishes she had listened to the warnings of her mother and her teachers. Instead, she went out with one of the boys she met at school and became pregnant. After going into labour, she waited two days before leaving her village of Ambongabe and then travelled two more days by ox-cart to reach the Baptist Good Hope Hospital in the town of Mandritsara. By then, the baby was dead and it had to be removed. Three months later, Razafindradera is back at the hospital for a procedure to repair an obstetric fistula - a severe medical condition in which a hole (fistula) develops between the bladder and the vagina, or between the rectum and the vagina - caused b...

Pay more for your vanilla Ice cream! London: Vanilla, one of the world’s favourite flavours – and also one of the most expensive – is grown mainly in Madagascar, Mexico and India. But a worldwide shortage of vanilla pods could send ice cream prices soaring, experts have warned. Trade journal The Grocer said Mexico and India have suffered poor crops this year. That has paved the way for traders to stock up early on the unaffected crop from Madagascar, knowing the country now has a virtual monopoly, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday. Madagascar produces around 2,000 tonnes of black vanilla a year. Opportunists are now stockpiling the spice, which is pushing up prices in commodity markets. Vanilla is pricier any other spice – except saffron – because of its time-consuming production. It is grown in pods on a particular variety of orchid. The cost of the spice has already gone up from $25 to $30 per kg, after being stuck at about $25 a kilo for around six years. Although it is mos...

At least 16 people have been killed this week when a category four cyclone lashed Madagascar's eastern shores, rescue authorities said on Wednesday. Some 65 people were injured and about 11,000 people left homeless after Cyclone Giovanna pummelled the country's eastern seaboard causing power shutdowns in parts of the island's port city of Tamatave, rescue officials said. The eye of the storm had made landfall south of Tamatave and was now headed towards the Mozambique channel. Rescue officials said the death toll could rise. "It is still a provisional toll and it may still change," Liva Randrianambinina, a communication officer at the National Bureau of Risk Management and Disaster, told Reuters. Madagascar is prone to cyclones and tropical storms, especially in the rainy season from February to May. In 2008, Cyclone Ivan smashed Madagascar, killing more than 80 people and leaving over 200,000 homeless. Madagascar, the world's bigges...

Plane carrying Madagascar's Ravalomanana diverts to Mozambique An aircraft flying Madagascar's exiled former leader Marc Ravalomanana home on Saturday was diverted to Mozambique after the Malagasy authorities ordered the jet to turn around, a spokesman for Ravalomanana said. "Madagascar civil aviation has turned the plane around and it's been diverted to Pemba in Mozambique. It doesn't have enough fuel to return all the way. It will refuel there and then return to Johannesburg," a spokesman for the ousted president told Reuters in Johannesburg. A Malagasy government minister confirmed that the plane, which earlier departed from South Africa, had turned around but said the reasons were unknown. Geez. Imagine being on that plane! That's quite the detour. Maybe next time....

(via www.AFP.com) Madagascar's ex-president Marc Ravalomanana said Friday he will return home from exile in South Africa on Saturday, almost three years after he was ousted by the island's current leader Andry Rajoelina. "It is with great pleasure and carrying the hopes and aspirations of all Malagasy for a return to peace and freedom in our beloved country that I announce, once again, that I will return to Madagascar tomorrow,"Ravalomanana told a press conference in Johannesburg. Ravalomanana had previously tried to return home in February last year, but was blocked at the airport by airline officials who said they had received a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) order from Madagascar that the country would turn away any aircraft that had him on board. The self-made millionaire said Friday he was confident that the scenario would not repeat itself. "It has taken a year of hard negotiation to get back to the point where I am confident that I can now return t...

Marc Ravalomanana, who was ousted as president of Madagascar in March 2009, said he wants to return home to participate in mediation talks, and that he would like to run in presidential elections this year. Five days after he was prevented from boarding a flight to Madagascar from Johannesburg, where he is in exile, Ravalomanana said he didn’t want to participate in a new transitional government headed by Andry Rajoelina. “I just want to go back for 24, or 40 hours, to take part in peaceful dialogue between Malagasy parties, and then I will come back,” Ravalomanana said by phone today. “I do not think I or Rajoelina should be part of any transitional government.” A proposal from the Southern African Development Community’s international mediation team has said the former president shouldn’t return to Madagascar until the country’s stability can be ensured. That would make it impossible for him to run in elections to be held by November because Rajoelina changed the constitution to s...

Gendarme trained in Moramanga Capacity building is one of the means used by the Madagascar Development Group, member of the “Acting for Life” organization, to fight against child exploitation or to help the victims of child exploitation. In this line, this organization works with the Gendarmerie Nationale which is also part of the network that fights against child exploitation in Madagascar. Therefore, 2 criminal investigators from the Gendarmerie were trained, as well as interns from the judicial police at the Gendarmerie Nationale School in Moramanga. These people are often confronted with cases of sexual violence perpetrated against children. The training took place on February 14 – 16, and focused on child development and needs, child sexual exploitation as a form of child abuse, as well as the related regulations and on how to listen to the victims. Click here for more MG News