Ancient Path recently wired emergency relief funds to the Jonoros, our partners in Madagascar, in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Haruna. Here in the US, people responded compassionately and gave generously. In SW Madagascar, Jonoro and his team worked hard to make a plan and locate, purchase and transport emergency supplies to the remote village of Anjabetrongo and the Mikea forest.
And last week Jonoro, Hanitra, their three children and team member Noely were ready to travel north to the forest. On their arrival in Anjabetrongo, they saw for themselves the extensive damage reported from flight surveys immediately after the storm.
Houses in the village have been destroyed – along with the church building and the old school building. Crops in the area which were ready to be harvested have been completely destroyed and locusts are devouring anything that remains. (Madagascar is currently experiencing a locust plague that threatens the food security of the entire nation. Cyclone Haruna has made the situation worse by creating a friendly environment for more locusts to breed.) Jonoro reports that some of the people have become too weak to go into the forest to search for food. The people are always skinny because food is scarce but now it is much worse. The children are also having a problem with diarrhea.
Food Distribution
After getting advice from local people, Jonoro and Hanitra decided to provide maize and beans – 20 kg of maize and 5 measures of beans for each person. First, Jonoro met with the villagers and let them decide on the best method of food distribution. The village chief helped organize the people to cooperate well with the team and together they selected leaders to distribute the food. One hundred and fifty households in all were supplied with rations.
The School
In addition to the food distributed to their families, each student in the school lined up for an extra 2 kg of maize and new school supplies to replace those damaged in the storm. Each of the 167 children registered received new books and pens and the team also purchased critical medicines for the children.
The Church
Although the church building was completely destroyed, the congregation continues to meet outside. Like all the people in the village, the church members lost their crops and have experienced extreme hunger. Their houses were also destroyed and while many have been able to rebuild their homes, some are still living without shelter. One member had great difficulty finding the $1.50 needed to take his badly injured wife to a hospital. But even in their own suffering, all of the church members were willing to share food and God’s love with the entire village – with their pastor, Kandre, leading by example.
The Mikea
While the family of Fandahara traveled out of the deep forest to Anajbetrongo to receive supplies, the Mikea chief chose to stay in the forest grieving the recent death of his daughter from tuberculosis. The Mikea family have all been deeply affected by the cyclone as well as the death of Rekolo so they were very grateful for the Jonoros encouragement. They each received 20 kg of maize and 05 measures of beans and Jonoro also brought clothing to distribute that was kindly donated by friends.
Jonoro and his team also visited another Mikea family further north near the village of Bevondro and found the same devastation. The people were weak and thinner than ever – and their crops were totally destroyed. Since this family is located near a lake they were able to start sowing sweet potatoes, but the problem is that they are too weak from hunger to work in the field. The Jonoros distributed the same food supplies for each of them as for villagers of Anjabetrongo and the family of Fandahara.
Many thanks to all of you who prayed and contributed to this effort – and who continue to give as we work together to help the people rebuild. Thank you to Jonoro and Hanitra and their beautiful children Joyce, Johanna and Jonathan. We are grateful for all of their sacrifices as a family and their hard work during this crisis. Thank you to Noely – a young man who is a tremendous support to Jonoro in more ways than we can count. Thank you to Kandre, the faithful pastor of the young Anjabetrongo church and the other leaders who showed their character and God’s love during this difficult time – and to Tete, the head schoolteacher and his assistant Julia, for their faithful care of the children. We are also grateful to the village chief,the leaders and the people of Anjabetrongo who worked to help the distribution go so smoothly. Together, we’ve made a difference!
If you would like to contribute to our work in Anjabetrongo and the Mikea Forest click here to donate online.
Or you can send a check to:
Ancient Path
P.O. Box 38045
Olmsted Falls, Ohio 44138
