About Us
Sunshine in Nosy Komba
Sunshine in Nosy Komba is a non profit public interest organisation based on volunteer work. It was created in 2011 by an international group of volunteers coming from different backgrounds and it is based in the Netherlands since 2017.
It stems from the idea that a comprehensive and long term approach is the only way to carry out a sustainable humanitarian project.
In the last few years Sunshine in Nosy Komba has implemented numerous projects aimed to improve Education, and Health care and to promote Sustainable development. This has been achieved thanks to a close collaboration with the local population and a coordinated action with other NGOs on the field.
Board members:
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Tiago Soares: Chairperson
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Pierre-Elie Crouzet: Depute Chairperson
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Zarifa Kudari: Board secretary
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Sara Morales Serrano: Treasurer
Email:
Address:
Smidssteeg 1, 2312 BP, Leiden, The Netherlands
RSIN 857255794
Registration (KvK) No.: 67989675
Philosophy and Method
Development is a lengthy and complex process, simplify it is the first of all errors.
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Only when emergency ends can start the development;
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The soft push is the one that goes further;
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The children are the compass of development;
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Freedom and participation are the basis of democracy;
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Our work serves solely the local people’s purposes.
We follow a comprehensive development model, where all the components of a dignifying life are considered.
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Establish a harmonious exchange with the local population to define together the priorities.
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Introduce a mechanism and show that it works without us.
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Local population must always be rewarded for their work.
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Development projects are not a job for our volunteers
More About Nosy Komba
Nosy Komba is a small volcanic island of Madagascar located on the North West coast of the main island. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world with 85% of the population living with less than 2€ per day.
Nosy Komba has 25 km2 of area and about 4500 people concentrated in six main villages along the coast. The population of this remote island used to live in life-threatening underdevelopment conditions, without access to healthcare or education, no drinkable water or electricity networks and no sanitation. Since 1993, the village of Antintorona, today with more than 700 inhabitants, has become the focus of a comprehensive program of assistance to development thanks to the contribution of different NGOs.
Present Context
In Madagascar in 2019, Rajoelina was announced as the winner of the national elections after the second round. The situation has remained unstable, especially at the local level with the local elections being delayed several times. The situation on the Education system seems to be more stable now and the school year went on without major disturbances. Nevertheless, the number of candidates and levels of success on the national exams went down significantly in 2019, both on CEPE (access to secondary school) and the BEPC (access to the high school).
In Nosy Komba:
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The new local representative of Antintorona will only be known by the beginning of the year 2020. The absence of a stable local political situation has affected a number of the foreseen projects.
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Despite the national results, the school supported by the project reached a very impressive success rates at all levels.
In Madagascar in 2018 with the presidential elections approaching, the political instability has spread to several public services. The public education system has been particularly affected by a strike that has lasted for more than 5 months, closing all public establishments.
In Nosy Komba:
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Impact on the students enrolled in public high schools and universities with the help of the Rise & Shine scholarships, who could not attend classes for the whole second semester.
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Increase of the requests to enroll in our schools from kids studying in other villages and islands.
In Madagascar in 2017 the government replaced all local elected leaders by people of its own party, increasing its authoritarian power.
In Nosy Komba:
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Strong impact on the local population. They felt their freedom regress and fear the repressive and violent reactions of their non-elected leader.
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We avoided replying to provocations and kept doing our work carefully to prevent any conflicts that might emerge from our presence in the region.
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Nevertheless, the long-term approach of empowerment of the local population started to give its fruits.
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The population isolated by itself the non-elected local leader, putting into evidence how powerless the non-elected leader was when the fear faded.
