Mia's World Challenge Trip to Madagascar

Madagascar, the world’s fourth largest island and one of the most bio diverse places on the planet, is a dream destination be it for trekking, snorkeling or a whole range of other activities. Currently, I am preparing for a four-week expedition to the island with my school, which a community project and several treks through rain forests and grasslands. Madagascar is an exciting destination; 80% of the island’s flora and fauna are found nowhere else, and with around 100 different species of lemur, the island’s fascinating wildlife is a sight not to be missed. Towering granite domes, tropical rain forests and coral reefs make up the island’s natural environment, and are just a few of the other things we will be seeing during our treks and tours around this spectacular island.

However, despite its great diversity of wildlife and environments, the island has a darker side also. The country is one of the poorest in the world, with an national income per person of only US$400 in 2016, and over 70% of the population living in poverty as of 2012. The island’s wildlife is suffering also; 80% of original forest cover of the island has been lost, leading to the endangerment and extinction of some species. At least 15 species of lemur, the island’s most recognisable animal, have gone extinct since human settlement began 2000 years ago, and more than half of all lemur species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

With World Challenge, we will be helping to tackle some of these issues in Madagascar, specifically through helping and improve education facilities in rural areas. Madagascar has a literacy rate of only 64.7%, with only 70% of children completing primary school. By comparison, NZ has a literacy rate of 99%. In working with the organisation Feedback Madagascar, we will help to improve education facilities, lifting literacy and school enrollment rates; in 2010 alone World Challenge groups built eight new schools in Madagascar, as well as a library an a number of new classrooms. In doing this we are providing children with the skills to be able to get a skilled paying job and break the cycle of poverty. Feedback Madagascar also encourages the sustainable use of natural resources, protecting the nations unique biodiversity - educating children also gives them the ability to be more concerned about environmental issues, and work in jobs which likely have a lower environmental impact, especially important considering that currently agriculture accounts for 30% of the nations GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Through World Challenge, we are not only having a once in a lifetime opportunity exploring the island’s unique environments and biodiversity, but also experiencing a way of living very different to our own. In helping these people, we create a better life for them today and in the future, and opening our eyes to how people in other parts of the world are much less privileged than us. Thank you for supporting this cause.