Wednesday - June 13th, 2012

…The story of We Work It Works begins 20 years ago when Stefano Palazzi arrived to the village of Antintonora on the island of (Nosy*) Komba in Madagascar.

During those years Antintorona was in a state of medical emergency against malaria, parasitosis, chronic bronchitis and dysentery.  Stefano offered his help to the locals, and thanks also to the support of some doctors from Reunion Island, Antintonora overcame the diseases. In the meantime drainage and reclamation were started to prevent resurgence.

The next stage was to lay the foundations for the future development of the village. Children are the future and with this in mind schools were the first things built. That was a small revolution taking into account the fact that in Madagascar 2 million children under the age of 15 have no access to any scholastic institution. The final result is extraordinary: today Antintonora has a nursery, a primary and secondary school, and a boarding school for children from other villages.

The school was a stimulus for the growth of the village, as it required the building of infrastructure:  waterworks, electricity network and roadworks. Day after day, and project after project, Antitorona set itself to work to put all this to reality.

With the help of Swiss engineers of the Adeve Association, Stefano built a 4000W hydroelectric turbine using locally available components and materials so that the indigenous craftsmen could build others. The turbine uses water flowing down the mountain to provide free energy to the whole village. In this way the children of Antintorona can make use of almost 200 laptops, which were sent to the island through the One Laptop Per Child project.

Water reach the village by a system of pipes linked to public drinking fountains. Small handicraft and commercial activities grow around those fountains. 

Thanks to a system of paved roads, the children can go to school without walking on the bare soil.

During these years Antintorona has seen many positive changes and this still carries on:  work continues every day on new projects with the conviction that better things can be done. Today the village is a lively community in which the children study and the adults build the future with their own hands. It is a daily chore in which everyone's contribution is important. Yours too.