At the heart of the Ranomafana Madagascar National Park, located about sixty kilometers from the city of Fianarantsoa, in the Vatovavy Region, is the international training center for the promotion of Biodiversity Center ValBio. The MSP team led by its co-director, Dr Caroline ROJOSOANOTAHINA, organized a preliminary training and contact with the volunteers and the team of the artisanal soap making project. This project will be implemented in the rural commune of Evato Farafangana, in collaboration with UNICEF and the ValBio Ranomafana Center.
Madagascar Soap Project or MSP, was initiated with a research embryo from its Founding Director, Christopher Coulter, MPH, Boston University, U.S. in 2018 after a study trip to Madagascar in 2015. Today, it has become a project of community service in the context of sanitation and hygiene, entirely linked to the goal of sustainable development n°06. Its objective remains the manufacture of artisanal soap in the service of assistance to the Malagasy rural community. But, it participates in the education and promotion of community behavior change, entrepreneurial promotion and employability of young graduates in the country as a long-term vision..
During their contact with the ValBio Ranomafana Center, the participants learned about the organization and planning of the community project, training on codes of conduct by accepting a partnership with an international organization attached to the United Nations such as UNICEF, with training in Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse or PSEA. This aims to have a team that respects humanity, respect which are among the eight values of MSP. The training was followed by a presentation of the financial and administrative procedures on the community work of the ValBio Center finance team. The day was full of debates, exchanges and discussions on knowledge of community intervention and awareness, community leadership, training and experiences acquired on soap making and existing natural ingredients in Madagascar and in the intervention regions rich in biodiversity. Then, the two-day meeting ended with a session of artisanal soap making, a distribution of the soaps produced by the first successful experience of the Research and Development team of the MSP Aubin Andraina Marie RATSIMBAZAFY, to the staff of the ValBio center . Immediately after, feedback on the quality of the soap was collected by the technical and operational team of the project. Looking forward to the improvement and advancement of their work, all participants are excited about the finished products and the success with the community.
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