Investing in a sustainable future for SEMAFI
SEMAFI students stand in front of the school’s newly-completed pig pen. The pig farming program is expected to substantially increase the school’s self-generated income.
Few staff members at SEMAFI can remember a time when the school’s finances weren’t tight.
For more than a decade, financial support from SEMAFI’s primary funder has steadily declined, leaving the school increasingly dependent on other sources of revenue to cover its operating expenses.
In recent years, the school has raised egg-laying chickens, sold muffins and yogurt at the market, and hosted fundraising events at local churches to help make up the difference. However, these efforts have not been enough. As a result, tuition at SEMAFI has risen from a nominal fee to an amount that few Malagasy families can afford.
SEMAFI’s administrators share our belief that every deaf child has the right to learn sign language and attend a school that meets their needs. But, without additional sources of funding, the school is limited in the number of low-income students it can afford to enroll.
As part of our mission to make education more accessible for deaf children in Madagascar, Meylou is helping SEMAFI develop sustainable income-generating programs that reduce its dependence on tuition payments and create reliable, diversified sources of revenue.
In just the past year, SEMAFI has seen significant growth in their self-generated revenue programs with support from Meylou and our nonprofit partner, Peace Horizons. Together, we’ve helped SEMAFI launch a pig farming program, build a permanent home for its flock of egg-laying hens and renovate an underutilized room into an indoor kitchen, expanding the school’s capacity for food-based fundraising initiatives.
The revenue generated by these programs will help SEMAFI expand its educational programs, enroll more students and catch up on delayed facility maintenance projects, improving the quality of life for students and staff. In some cases, these facilities have even become hands-on learning spaces for students in SEMAFI’s vocational training program.
Pig Farming Program
Raising and selling pigs is a common investment strategy in Madagascar. SEMAFI’s administrators had long wanted to start a pig farming program at the school; however, the upfront costs were prohibitive.
We helped SEMAFI secure the funding needed to construct a sturdy pig pen and purchase the pigs and feed necessary to launch the program earlier this year. In the program’s first eight months, the school has raised three pigs, two of which have given birth to a total of 16 piglets.
The program is expected to substantially increase the school’s self-generated income and generate enough revenue to cover the annual salaries of one to two teachers.
Additionally, the program provides students in SEMAFI’s vocational training program with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience caring for pigs, skills they can use to earn income themselves in the future.
Indoor Kitchen Facility
Earlier this year, we helped SEMAFI transform a previously underutilized room into the school’s first indoor kitchen.
The new kitchen features a refrigerator, countertops, storage space, a sink and a table, providing a cleaner, more spacious area for the school to prepare meals and store kitchen equipment.
The new facility offers the school numerous opportunities to generate income. Each day, staff bake muffins and prepare fresh yogurt to sell at the market; on occasion, the kitchen also becomes the center of the school’s preparations for larger fundraising events.
In May, students in the vocational training program and staff made and sold 150 pizzas as part of SEMAFI’s Operation Pizza fundraiser. At one point, the refrigerator was completely packed with toppings, dough, cheese, and pizza sauce! That same week, SEMAFI also raised funds by selling food and beverages prepared in the school’s kitchen outside its local church.
In total, SEMAFI raised $170 in profit that week — approximately enough to cover one teacher’s salary for two and a half months — exceeding their fundraising goal.
Chicken House
SEMAFI’s hens provide the school with both revenue and eggs for student meals. After thieves nearly succeeded in stealing the school’s flock from an outdoor shed two years ago, the chickens were moved indoors to a room next to the students’ dining hall.
Keeping the chickens indoors was not only a health hazard, but it also took up valuable indoor space. However, the school did not have the funds needed to build a secure chicken coop until last year.
After the new coop was completed in November, the chickens were moved into their new home, freeing up their former space to be renovated into the school’s first indoor kitchen.