Local schools

Andavadoaka has three schools for its nearly 500 children: a private primary and secondary school run by the local Catholic mission and a public primary school that is free to village children. Classes are large, classrooms are small, and school materials are sparse. Pupils attend until the age of 15 or 16 if family finances allow.

The conservation group Blue Ventures which works in Andavadoaka regularly brings donated books and other supplies to the schools, and Blue Ventures volunteers teach English to students. Inspired by their education programme, a former Blue Venture volunteer established a letter exchange programme between her students at Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara, California and Ecole Sainte Famille School in Andavadoaka.

Started in 2004, the exchanges have served to assist the young Malagasy students with their English studies and has helped to convey a sense of life in a small fishing village in Southwest Madagascar to the American pupils.

To see a selection of the letters exchanged between both communities, click here.