Miremby Foundation
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The Miremby Foundation was born during a transformative journey in Madagascar when founder Bethany embarked on what was meant to be a one-year research trip. This adventure quickly grew into an 18-month experience 🗺️, much of it spent in Sainte Luce, a stunning community in southeastern Madagascar 🌴.
The Birth of the Foundation
During her time in Sainte Luce, Bethany discovered a pressing need to support and protect local communities. The challenges were further compounded by the announcement of a mining project, which would displace the entire community, forcing families to leave their ancestral homes 🏠 and search for new land. This also meant parts of the forest 🌳, vital for the environment and local livelihoods, would be destroyed. While the mine’s development could not be stopped, the Miremby Foundation was established to empower the people of Sainte Luce and ensure they had resources and support to navigate these changes.
Our Growing Impact Across Communities
1. Education Support in Antanitsara
The foundation has expanded its reach to Antanitsara, the village where co-founder Tsiraiky was born and raised. Here, we are focused on improving education access for local children 📚. An ongoing project is renovating the village school and building additional classrooms to accommodate more year groups.
To support the current students, we’ve donated 400 copybooks 📒 and pens 🖊️ to every child attending the school. These efforts are helping to create a better learning environment and opportunities for the next generation.
2. Supporting Clarcine’s Education in Sainte Luce
In Sainte Luce, we are proud to support Clarcine, a bright and determined young student 🌟. After the passing of her father, her family struggled to afford her education. Through the Miremby Foundation, we currently provide £60 per month to cover her school fees, housing, and food costs while she studies in Mahatalaky.
We’ve also launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £2,500, which will cover her school fees, food, and accommodation for the next three years. This campaign ensures Clarcine has the stability and resources she needs to complete her education and build a better future.
3. Empowering Local Artisans in Fort Dauphin
In Fort Dauphin, the foundation has partnered with Hery, a talented local silversmith 💎. Together, we’ve developed a unique jewellery-making experience for tourists. Much like the popular bracelet-making workshops in Bali, visitors to Fort Dauphin can now create their own handmade silver bracelets under Hery’s expert guidance 🛠️.
This experience not only provides visitors with a meaningful souvenir but also helps to promote Hery’s craft and bring additional income to his family and the local economy.
Looking Ahead
The Miremby Foundation is committed to making a lasting difference in Madagascar. By supporting education, empowering local artisans, and strengthening communities, we aim to create sustainable opportunities that benefit people and preserve their cultural heritage 💚.
our goal
The goal
Our foundation's goal is to help create sustainable incomes for local communities as well as solutions for some of the difficulties these villages face.
1. Create sustainable livelihoods for locals
2. Provide a fair wage to both the guides and local communities
3. Provide real time solutions for issues within the communities
Many of the organisations that work in Madagascar are wildlife orientated, or fail to create long term income options for the communities they work in. We hope to bring solutions for the people created by the people who grew up here.
Participatory mapping
Our organisation is built from local people for the benefit of tourists and local people and the communities they grew up in. We are developing solutions to the problems that locals face within their communities by speaking and listening to locals. We do this using a technique called participatory mapping, which Bethany learned during her academic career. This technique uses games and drawing of maps to understand how locals see their lives. This is a technique that takes time, as it doesn't use direct questioning to learn specific information. It directly aims not to ask specific questions that most often only give a predetermined outcome or result. Participatory mapping relies on the researcher getting involved with locals understanding their day to day lives, watching behaviours and getting involved when they are allowed by the community.
By listening to the community we will understand their needs, their prioritise and the solutions they need to improve their lives.
Our promise
Miremby Foundation promises first and foremost to benefit the local communities in which we plan our tours. A part of the cost of each trip goes to villages we visit and the local guides while bringing an experience to tourists that is rarely offered by big multi destination tour operators.
