Profile and activities
The Village of Joy founded by Charles and Simone Mitsakis is housed in the typical landscape of Imerina, two hours by track from the capital, in the Hauts-Plateaux. Since 2003, it has hosted orphaned or very destitute children, and work with them for a serene future. The Village of Joy is also a accredited school (1st and 2nd degree) and a place of integration and agronomic training for adults who intends to develop therural autonomy of families.
Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. The condition of children without families is particularly alarming there. :
without civil status, left to fend for themselves, they live off the waste of an already very poor population. They can be moved, sold,
mistreated with impunity. Otherwise, single parent misery is immense: young mothers, abandoned by overwhelmed fathers,
find themselves destitute with many children in their care. They have no other choice to survive than to carry out exhausting chores (carrying water, wood), often pregnant with a babene child (mode of carrying African children) and a few others to feed.
Loving, nurturing, sharing, educating, training, encouraging: this is the heart of the Village de la joie action.
The landscape of highlands of Imerina consists of arid hillsides (laterite), flooded valleys (rice fields),
and forest (various endemic species of eucalyptus, pine, ravintsara). The Village of Joy is located on 84 ha. Thousands of trees have already been planted there according to the principles ofagroforestry and permaculture, respecting the local traditional practices. The diversification of activities and thequalitative requirement allow the sale in short channels of part of the production (market garden products, dairy products, medicinal plants, delicatessen, etc.). Many local species are valued, using advanced techniques.
Respect forenvironment, the recognition of theidentify and local traditions, taking into account the challenges of 21st century such as food self-sufficiency: so many concerns that motivate the Village of joy in a process of economic and agricultural cooperation dignified, durable, reproducible and easy to transmit.
Today
The Village of Joy is developing at the level ofautonomy and training courses.
The support association for the Viollage de la joie, based in Réunion, created in 2007 by Aristote, Charles's brother, continues to work to find support for the development of specific projects (recovery of a batch of downgraded computers by the rectorate of Réunion, training of the team of confectioners from Village of joy by teachers from Hotel school of the Renaissance in St Paul-Réunion, fundraising fund for UV filters in partnership with the Rotary Club to improve the quality of drinking water, project for the production of biogas…)
The GRAINES D'ESPOIR team firmly intends to help develop post-baccalaureate training courses or beyond the 3rd year for certain professions.
The rate of continuation of studies remains very low in Madagascar and the failure rate of the few students from the countryside who access higher education is extremely high. When they leave for the capital or for the big cities, the young people of the countryside are subjected to very great financial, human and social difficulties. So the future necessarily passes through the continuation of training as close as possible to the family nucleus.
The distance training courses in Madagascar are very developed, which poses a problem in the village of joy and in most of the countryside, it is the quality of the Internet connection.
The project led by the GRAINES D'ESPOIR team is therefore to:
– provide the village of joy with a broadband connection,
– continuing to train students in audiovisual storytelling.
For the latter, filming and editing units, which were used in the film, were bequeathed to the students of the Village of Joy. It is now a question of completing the training of young people so that they can tell what is happening on a daily basis, and make it available to the general public.
Useful links
Contact
charlotte.dqt@gmail.com
Village of Joy – Lieudit Antanetibe – Fokontany Anovorano – CR Merimandroso – Ambohidratrimo District – Analamanga Region – BP 7648 ANTANANARIVO