Menja - the dream of a young woman cut short early

Menja was a young woman of 25 years of age, mother of 2 little boys. She was carrying a pregnancy almost to term with the expected date of delivery around the end of June 2023.

She was part of this group of young people wanting to improve the living conditions in her village of Tsaramandroso. She reflected the soul of her village Tsara = good and mandroso = to develop.

From the beginning of her village’s collaboration with Zahana she was very dynamic and participated in all the scheduled activities. She attended various of our training courses such as sewing, pastry and soap making.

She was interested in our micro-credit program and registered for raising a pig successfully. As a role model she cleverly used the profits from the sale of the pig to open a small local store in her village. She sold basic necessities like sugar, salt, cookies, and dried fish.

She was proud of her success and last April re-subscribed to the micro-credit scheme to start raising pigs again to strengthen the capital of her business.

She embodied the courage and joy of a young woman wanting to make a difference in her life and her community. Her enthusiasm has made her a model for other young women in her community who have followed her example and applied the training provided by Zahana to improve their lives.

Unfortunately, life decided otherwise. She passed away on the morning of June 23, 2023 for reasons very difficult to explain and to be understood. The path of preparing a better future for her children took another turn. As it so happened as a coincidence, she died the day we were coming to her village for a site visit. Instead of meeting her we participated in the funeral and burial which took place on Saturday June 24 in her village of Tsaramandroso.

We miss her smile and her warm welcome very much. From the depths of our souls we pray that her soul and that of her baby who did not want to leave her womb will remain in peace forever.

Her New modern kitchen in her house

Showing off they new kitchen