20 years of activity at Ankevo

At the beginning of 2000, a local association of villagers, ADDA, was created to set up community development projects.

At the same time, an association, ADDA France, led by Véronique and Marcel Willems, provides logistical and financial support. After ten years of very active projects and multiple missions of aid workers on site, ADDA France is put on hold. At the end of 2017, after a refounding trip to the country, a small group of former Ankevo travelers and new members decided to reactivate support from France by creating Pirogues et Baobabs d'Ankevo, an NGO under the law of 1901 that develops relations with villages, organizes solidarity missions on the spot and sets up school, health and social projects in conjunction with local officials (Fokontany:  Council of Elders).

Several missions were carried out in 2018 and 2019, before the halt caused by the closure of borders linked to the pandemic in 2020. However, contacts and projects have not been stopped. Thanks to the Internet, 10,000 km away, communications remain good: the dispensary is functioning, the schools have been renovated, teachers have been hired and trained, wells have been dug... Missions resumed in October 2022, May and October 2023, as well as in March and November 2024. The association has 7 full-time Malagasy employees. They all live in Ankevo. P&B also works with various service providers, the diocese of Morondava, several partner NGOs and many good contacts between Morondava and Bélo-sur-Mer. A major project to supply drinking water with solar energy is being rolled out in 2024. It requires regular presence and monitoring on site for the coordination of technical choices, services and maintenance of the operation.

Many projects are underway: wells, pump maintenance, water supply in Manomekinai/Andika, plantations, permanent school, doubling of the boarding school, Internet equipment in the school, decentralized kindergartens, various projects to be calibrated in Bélo, ... Next mission: October 2025.