Madagascar Ankizy Fund Health Teams

We have chosen a great team for our 2012 dental mission. The team consists of 3 team leaders from Stony Brook University’s School of Dental Medicine, three first year dental students and eight third year dental students. This is our largest team ever with three students returning to Madagascar for the second time! We are very excited about the impact that we will make in rural villages and about the life-changing experiences we will have. Our dental missions are expensive to run so we are in need of donations from our supporters and friends. Please spread the word and thank you in advance for your support.
Our CEO and Founder will both be traveling to Madagascar in April to lay the groundwork for a potential expansion of our health care interventions. The future holds a great deal of promise for the Madagascar Ankizy Fund and for the people we serve.

We will be hosting a fundraising event in support of Madagascar Ankizy Fund initiatives, including our dental missions, on Tuesday October 25th at TJ Halpin’s Bar/Restaurant. The festivities will start at 5:30pm. Come straight from work or school. “Dr. K” Krause and Cornelia “Corn Dog” Seiffert will be guest bartending. The theme is “toga party” (but togas are optional) and we will hand out awards for best costume. In addition, we will have dental/Madagascar/dinosaur trivia challenges, a silent auction for Malagasy handicrafts, a DJ, and more. MAF gets a percentage of the tips that the bartenders earn, so come bearing your stored up change or – better yet – bigger bills! Your tips will go towards providing healthcare and education to impoverished rural children and their families in Madagascar. (TJ Halpin’s is at the Heatherwood Golf Course on Nesconset Hwy across from Waldbaum’s in South Setauket.) Questions: Please email us.

We first met Alaby Masindahy (Masindahy means saint in the Malagasy language) during our 2010 dental mission. He was suffering with an extraoral fistula caused by a dental infection. This infection could have gone systemic and killed this sweet child. Dr. Larry Wynn used our Nomad (TM) dental unit to xray the fistula before it was removed. During our 2011 mission, Alaby came back to see us and his wound was well healed with almost no scar. It is stories like that of Alaby, a brave little boy living in extreme poverty, that keep us focused on our mission to provide healthcare and education to some of the most forgotten children in the world.

We had some big fun at the end our trip. The students really deserved and enjoyed the festivities.

The team has arrived safely in Tana and will be flying home this afternoon. They were a great, hardworking group and will be missed by the Malagasy staff and the staff who are based here!

We will have a party with Dr. Luke Dollar tonight and then head back to Antananarivo via car on the 13th. It is a 10-12 hour drive and the team will get to see a wide and beautiful swath of Madagascar. Hard to believe the trip is almost over. We will post picts of the party as soon as possible.

The clinic in Ampijoroa Forest Station, located within Ankarafantsika National Park, is going very well. The team has two more days of work and will head back to Antananarivo on the 13th. Tonight they will participate in a guided nocturnal lemur walk in the park. There will be a party on the 12th with National Geographic Emerging Explorer, Dr. Luke Dollar, who studies the enigmatic fossa that inhabits the park.

We’re in Ampijoroa and we’re doing great but we don’t have an internet connection. We will be back in touch when we return to Mahajanga.

Here are some great pictures our dental hygiene efforts with the village children in Ankazomborona/Amboromalandy.

We will be coming into Mahajanga tomorrow for some well-deserved time off, so you can expect to hear from your loved ones directly. They will be staying at the Hotel Mahajanga Le Badamier.

The 2011 dental team members are working very hard and seeing numerous patients. Their enthusiasm is pervasive and they are soaking in the unique culture and conditions that they are facing in Madagascar. Various team members have reiterated that they are learning so much and will take their new found skills and experience home with them to the states. MAF staff had had numerous productive meetings and this gallery includes a few shots of our new school’s construction progress.