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  • The Ismaili | 06 July 2020 | Madagascar

    Solidarity between communities in response to the pandemic

    Examples of donations: Rice, soap, hydroalcoholic gel, oil
  • The Ismaili | 06 July 2020 | Madagascar

    Solidarity between communities in response to the pandemic

    The representatives and presidents of the five communities in meeting with members of the Ministry of Justice.
  • The Ismaili | 06 July 2020 | Madagascar

    Solidarity between communities in response to the pandemic

    Examples of donations : Pasta, rice, soap
  • The Ismaili | 06 July 2020 | Madagascar

    Solidarity between communities in response to the pandemic

    Examples of donations : Rice
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Article en Français

Following the unprecedented situation of the Covid-19 pandemic and the appeal launched by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Madagascar, Mr. Andry Nirina Rajoelina, for national solidarity, the representatives of the five Indian communities (Bohra, Hindu, Ithna Asheri, Ismaili, Sunni) of Madagascar decided to help by meeting and creating the CI.ZA.MA: Congrégation Indienne des Zanatany de Madagascar.

During his speech, the President of the National Council for Madagascar, Pinou CHERALY, underlined the foundation of CI.ZA.MA as a union of solidarity essentially due to the common origins of the five Indian communities in Madagascar by declaring: "CI.ZA.MA reunites all the communities without distinctions of religion. We are all united today by our Indian origins, even before the partition of India and Pakistan. ...] What unites us all is our dialect, which is Gujarati".

The term "Zanatany" or ”native child" in English, is a term of Malagasy origin. It thus designates a person of foreign origin, native and settled in Madagascar. The Ismaili community, like other Indian communities, has been settled in Madagascar for more than a hundred years and integrated into the local population. This term reinforces the desire of the 5 communities to get involved to help the country in the same way as a Malagasy person would.

Concretely, the CI.ZA.MA collects the donations offered by each community in order to redistribute them to the Malagasy population. The donations can be monetary or in products of basic necessities or health (rice, flour, milk, soap, hydro-alcoholic gels, buckets of water, etc...) These donations have been given to certain ministries, town halls and the command centre of Covid-19 in order to guarantee equity in the redistribution. An "extraordinary" Zanatany duty that President Pinou CHERALY affirmed because everyone was able to participate according to their own means: "The contributions vary from a small amount to a large amount and that is why today we achieved something extraordinary because it comes from the heart".
Since March 26th, CI.ZA.MA has accomplished civic actions with different organizations of the Malagasy State, in particular the City hall of Antananarivo, the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Population, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice. The following were distributed: 1,260 bags of rice, 1,065 cartons of soap, 3,200 litres of oil, 22,000 packages of noodles, 100 cartons of noodles, 40,000 masks, 400 buckets, 300 bowls and 200 basins of water.

Donations for the underprivileged populations in the fight against Covid-19 were made partly in the capital city of Antananarivo but also in the province of Toamasina. "There are about 250 individuals or families who have participated in this solidarity effort. ...] Our compatriots in the provinces have taken example of this solidarity" announced President Pinou CHERALY.
This action not only integrates a spirit of solidarity between the different communities in various cities of Madagascar, but it is also part of the improvement of civil society. Whatever our material wealth, our social class, our origins or our beliefs, we are all fighting against this pandemic. President Pinou CHERALY expressed his gratitude, emphasizing the importance to strengthen this union considering the results of this huge mobilisation. Our inter-community solidarity is the only asset we have today to ensure the future with greater serenity.