Southern Madagascar is living through a horrific drought and a worsening famine. Aid organizations are there to help, but how sustainable is such assistance? A handful of projects in the region may point the way to a more sustainable future.
''The dark hole swallows them up as they disappear into the shadows with their empty buckets. Several minutes pass before they reemerge, struggling under the heavy loads they are carrying on their shoulders. They balance carefully on the homemade ladders, with 20 meters (65 feet) of nothingness beneath them. But down in the bottom of the pit is the only place to get what they need the most: Water. And gold.
Ambolamena could be a wealthy place. Extremely wealthy. Residents essentially live on top of the valuable precious metal; one that can be found everywhere in the region. But the gold is unreachable at the moment. Without water, it can't be rinsed out of the earth – and the treasure must stay in the ground as the people up above slowly starve...''
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