Programme of events:
We host four meetings a year with speakers on a range of subjects about Madagascar, from wildlife to politics, from minerals to healthcare. We are also pleased to publicise suitable events arranged by others.
Our meetings are held in central London at St George’s Bloomsbury; usually three of them in a year are on a Wednesday evening and one during the day on a Saturday. We serve delicious meals of Malagasy food, have a free bar and often host Malagasy music. Full details of the venue can be found by clicking here.
The talks scheduled for 2010 are:
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Wednesday 20th January
At our first meeting of 2010, on January 20th, over thirty members and guests gathered to hear a fascinating account by the traveller and author Kevin Rushby about Indian Ocean Pirates. With great fluency and humour he introduced us to the history of piracy and described the curious blend of barbarity, courtesy and even-handedness that has characterized these bands of marine outlaws down the centuries. He then spoke of the settlement of some of these colourful figures on the coasts of Madagascar and of his efforts to find their descendents. In this latter task he confessed to having been thwarted by a village sage's opinion that not just some but everybody in the locality was of pirate stock! In consequence of Kevin's beautifully presented tales it is highly likely that on our next trip to L'Isle Ste Marie we shall be quietly humming choruses from “The Pirates of Penzance” beneath the palm trees!
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Wednesday 31st March
Professor Marcel Hommel, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, on the ‘Tropical Diseases of Madagascar’.
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Saturday 15th May
On 15 May 2010, we are putting on a fundraising concert to support the amazing work of the Akany Avoko orphanage, caring for and supporting some 130 destitute children and young people www.akanyavoko.com. Set in the intimate atmosphere of St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, near to London’s Liverpool Street, the concert will feature the renowned musical talents of the wonderful Malagasy guitarist and singer-songwriter Nogabe Randriaharimalala www.myspace.com/nogaberandriaharimalala. We will be posting more details nearer the time, but please put this date in your diary now.
We are still looking for corporate donors to support our fundraising on the night, in exchange for publicity in the programme and an opportunity to publicise their products/services. If you work for, or know of a company, that might be willing to donate, please, please contact me. The work of Akany Avoko is truly amazing and they need all the support we can give them!
Andrew Law
Tel: 07790 709 256
alaw.home@btopenworld.com
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Wednesday 16th June
Nigel Vardy, mountaineer and author, on ‘Seventh Heaven’ as Mount Maromokotro in Madagascar was the seventh peak that he climbed to complete the “7 mountains x 7 islands challenge”, describing what it is like as a toeless climber to walk for two weeks in the heart of the country with a small team of porters and a guide on trails rarely used or seen – a great difference from the usual mountain climates that he knows covered in ice and snow.
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Saturday 9th October (daytime meeting)
Yvonne Orengo, of the Andrew Lees Trust, on ‘Handing Over’, a story in the sustainability of development projects for the longer term, including how ALT are handing over their radio networks to local partners and building capacity in the farming sector in the drought areas of southern Madagascar.
Ulrike Meinhof, of Southampton University, on ‘Malagasy Music’.
Daniel Austin, acclaimed wildlife photographer and founder of the Madagascar Library, with a slide show 'Images of Magagascar'.
The events we held in 2009, with where possible reports on them for those unable to attend, were:
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Saturday 3rd October
Julia Footnick, of the Zoological Society of London, on "Lokobe, from closed reserve to national park - an ecotourism initiative in Nosy Be".
Brian Donaldson, ex-ambassador to Madagascar, on “ The Small Grants Scheme", its evolution from the Madagascar Development Fund, its role in rural development and its contribution development and political stability.
Oliver Backhouse, of MOSS, on "Ophthalmology in Madagascar, and the new Leeds OPTIN linkage in the four priority areas of ophthalmology, nursing, medical physics and rehabilitation".
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Wednesday 17th June
AGM followed by John Mack, Professor of World Art Studies at the University of East Anglia and former Director of the Museum of Mankind, on ‘Malagasy Art’.
Summary of the talk Minutes of the AGM
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Wednesday 1st April
Stephen Wilkinson, former Director of Akany Avoko children’s home, on ‘38 years of ups and downs in Madagascar’.
Summary of the talk
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Wednesday 28th January 2009
Colin Bird, Chief Executive Officer of Jubilee Platinum PLC, on ‘Mining potential
in Madagascar’.
Summary of the talk