Mavitrika: “I’m happy to be with my friends and to learn about children’s rights.”

Mavitrika* is a six-year-old girl from a town in Betroka District, Anosy Region, Madagascar. She comes from a nuclear family and is one of nine children, with five brothers and three sisters.

In rural Madagascar, farming is the backbone of most families’ survival, including hers. Yet, years of drought, insecurity, and the absence of opportunities for children in the village forced the family to depend on every pair of hands. The children were forced into mica mining in order to help their parents keep their families afloat. 

Mavitrika’s family lives in two modest, one-room mud houses, where everyone sleeps on the floor. Each day, the children walk several kilometres to fetch water from the municipality’s main river. Living in a close-knit community, they enjoy playing together in the shared playground near their home.

Life Growing-up in the Village.

From an early age, Mavitrika’s daily routine involved working in the mica mines and doing household chores. “The dry season made us work in the mica mines, but I didn’t like it,” she recalled.

Every morning, after a modest breakfast of rice or cassava with greens, she set off at around 7 a.m. to join her parents at the mica mines. There, she helped by sorting mica above ground and clearing rocks and stones to access the deposits. Later, she would return home with her mother to take care of household chores or, at times, accompany her parents to work in the farming fields.

The family’s earnings from mica mining were extremely low. A 50 kg bag sold for just MGA 5,000 (about 1 euro), and after one or two weeks of preparation and collection, they usually managed to make around MGA 10,000 (2 euros). With such limited income, their meals were modest, mainly rice, corn, sweet potatoes, cassava, and beans, with meat being a rare treat. 

For Mavitrika, life in the mines was especially difficult. Exposure to mica dust often left her coughing and feeling unwell, and because of these harsh conditions and her family’s struggles, she was unable to attend school.

Identification and support

In 2023, Terre des Hommes Netherlands and FAFAFI launched the FAMAHA 2 project in Benato-Atsimo, Ranohendry, and Antanambao. As every child in these villages was enrolled, Mavitrika became one of the project participants.

In June 2024, after the inauguration of the new primary school in her village, Mavitrika’s life changed significantly. She received school supplies, including a backpack, pens, copybooks, pencils, and rulers. She was also provided with a birth certificate, a school meal through the canteen, and the chance to join the Child Rights Club.

Her family benefitted from household support in the form of bean seeds and became members of a VSLA (Village Savings and Loan Association) group.

A new daily routine

Now, Mavitrika’s days are very different. She showers in the morning, takes her breakfast, and then goes to school at 8 a.m. She is in her second year of primary school. Before class, she plays in the school playground with her friends, enjoying elastic rope games, football, or tatara (a game where children make up stories with stones).

At midday, she joins her classmates for meals at the school canteen. “I enjoy it a lot because it’s different from what we usually have at home with rice and beans, peanuts, or sometimes even meat,” she shared. Every Friday, she takes part in Child Rights Club sessions, where she learns about children’s rights, engages in games, and joins outreach activities in surrounding villages to promote education and raise awareness about child exploitation.

The positive change in her life

Since the project intervention, Mavitrika no longer works in the mica mines. Instead, she spends her days in school and with her friends. Her parents remain the household’s sole providers through farming and mica mining, but she no longer bears this burden.

She expresses joy about this change: “I like the situation now because I no longer feel tired.”

She also values the new knowledge she gains: “We have to study in order to become ‘Vazaha’ [a Malagasy word for foreigner, but also used to describe people with good jobs and money].”

For Mavitrika, school has opened up new dreams. “I want to become a teacher so I can teach other people too,” she said with determination.

I want to become a teacher so I can teach other people too

— Mavitrika

The FAMAHA 2 project, implemented by Terre des Hommes Netherlands and FAFAFI, supports children in Benato-Atsimo, Ranohendry, and Antanambao through education, household support, and child protection activities. By addressing child labour and providing safe alternatives, the project is helping children like Mavitrika build brighter futures.

*Name changed to protect the identity of the project participant. All people involved in this story gave informed consent to participate.