A new crowdfunding campaign launched on Zaar is raising much-needed funds to help children in need in Madagascar as the facilities offered within the orphanage that houses them are under threat of closure.
The Malta-registered charity The Arnaud Guesry Foundation runs La Maison d’Arnaud, an orphanage for vulnerable children in Northern Madagascar. This residential facility currently houses 30 children full-time, aged between three months and 12 years, with education, nutrition, health services and psychosocial support provided through 20 full-time members of staff.
The Malta for Madagascar Christmas Campaign on Zaar hopes to raise a total of €5,000 for crisis relief cases next year: beds reserved in the home for children in urgent need of specialist care and adequate security, such as abandoned infants or children, children removed from exploitation, and cases of severe abuse, including neglect. A €10 donation brings a smile to a child’s face with a Christmas present, €25 pays for school supplies as part of their education, and €100 enrols a child in an extra-curricular package of a summer school and weekend education programme including meals and health-checks. Meanwhile, €350 saves a child from malnutrition with a guaranteed place in the charity’s re-feeding programme and €1000 sponsors a child’s life-changing surgery as required.
The Foundation supports several valuable community projects in the area, including a prison support project, a summer school, malnutrition rehabilitation, a sustainability project, and a local hot meal project. However, without additional support from the community received through the crowdfunding campaign, these life-changing facilities may be forced to close.
“Due to the current global crisis, we are in dire need of support,” says Christina Lejman at the Foundation. “The money you donate – every single donation – will make a huge difference to children that desperately need protection, medical care, education and love. We try to provide a local, stable base for children that facilitates family visits, rehabilitation and reunification. Our operations are limited by funds and we know we could do so much more if we had the means. Any little bit helps – please give what you can.”
This new Zaar campaign follows the success of a previous crowdfunding project by the charity two years ago, when the generosity of the Maltese people saved the project from closure amid the COVID-19 crisis. “We are so incredibly grateful for all the support we received in those critical weeks,” Ms Lejman goes on. “Now, we hope to regain some of our strength and recommit to those children we have kept on hold for so long as we hunt for the funds to return to full working capacity.”
For more information and to donate to the Malta for Madagascar Christmas Campaign, visit www.zaar.com.mt.
