Madagascar

We found out today that Bro1 has been selected as a participant for Madagascar 2019!

Participant briefing:

‘We are building on a strong working relation with Malagasy Scouting to establish a long term partnership which will provide new opportunities for personal development, cultural exchange and adventure for Scouts in Madagascar and the UK and also contribute to development in Madagascar. Central to this partnership will be a project to develop a national Scouting centre for Madagascar. The centre will provide facilities to strengthen and enhance the capability of Malagasy Scouting to deliver its program offering both greater opportunity to young people in Scouting and more effective community engagement and education. Malagasy Scouting currently has no facilities of its own and relies on other organisations, particularly Churches, for training, camping, activity and office space.
The project is ambitious in nature and planned to be executed over a duration of 10 years or so but is being designed such that it can be delivered in instalments as funding is available, for example from expedition teams fundraising, and each one is immediately beneficial to Scouting in Madagascar.
The site for the National Centre is land owned by Malagasy Scouting approximately 10 miles outside the capital Antananarivo (Tana).
This is currently an undeveloped, partly wooded site and
the first instalment of the project will take place with expeditions in 2019 providing a great opportunity for teams to see the very start of a major new project and follow it through to conclusion.
Expedition outline
The focus of the expedition will be the project, based in the central highlands about 10 miles outside Tana.
Camp will likely be established on the project site on the edge of a small village with which Scouting has a good relationship. The site is well located for easy access to and from Tana and for exploring the central highlands.
The project will focus on the first stages of realising the National Scout Centre to provide basic services and facilities which will make the site useful including water, toilets and the first building.
Work will be undertaken together with Malagasy Scouts and local skilled craftsmen.
It would be a great shame to travel to Madagascar and not explore some of the natural wonder for which the country is rightly famed. A week or so travel, adventure and exploration is proposed to get a glimpse of a few highlights which will also help participants to understand the wider context in the country including the challenges of poverty and environmental degradation.
In total an expedition lasting around four weeks gives a good amount of time to complete some meaningful project work, explore a few highlights of the country, build genuine friendships and begin to understand something about the country and people.
Travel takes time in Madagascar, both getting there and getting around, so it is worthwhile allowing sufficient time in the country. Travel will primarily be by minibus (Taxibrouse) which typically seat around 15 people, making this a good group or subgroup size for transportation.
We and Malagasy Scouting are keen that expeditions are jointly run between UK and Malagasy Scouts and incorporate participants and leaders from both countries as an integrated unit for the duration of the expedition. This greatly enhances the experience for everyone involved and provides the maximum opportunity for the formation of friendships and cultural exchange.
To make this possible UK Scouts will budget to provide subsidy towards the cost of Malagasy Scouts participating as most Scouts in Madagascar do not have the funds available to take part in opportunities of this nature.’