On friday 22 march the corona virus appeared also in Madagaskar. Three cases were known at that day. The airport was allready closed for a few weeks, but since the end of march the country is also in lockdown. The schools, churches, universities and shops apart from supermarkets are closed.
People panicked and started buying as much as possible; That means the people that could afford. The 80% of the Malagasy that allready live in extreme poverty could not afford that, for them the lockdown means that because they can’t go out, one day no work is simply one day no food. The prices for first necessities got higher in one day, and many people lost their jobs from one day to another.
Luckily our association had a reserve so that we can continue most of our projects, and that we don’t have to fire our staff. But since the schools are closed, we can’t organise our schoolcantines, what is really sad for all the 1000 children that got their extra meals on the schools that we support. Let’s hope that this situation won’t last too long. There is some hope, since the infections don’t seem to spread like in European countries (uptill now there are only 100 cases known, no deaths reported and no ic patients) Help us hope that schools will open soon and we can start with our canteens again.
