The goals of the Madagascar Ankizy Fund (ankizy means ‘children’ in the Malagasy language) are to provide education and healthcare for children living in remote areas of the island, and to support communities in multiple other ways.

The Madagascar Ankizy Fund was founded in 1998 by paleontologist Dr. David W. Krause, a professor in the Department of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University. Dr. Krause, as well as various colleagues and students involved in paleontological research in Madagascar, are committed to improving the lives of Malagasy children.

In addition to building schools, we also support basic health and hygiene initiatives by conducting monthly medical missions staffed by Malagasy physicians and annual dental missions staffed by faculty and advanced students from Stony Brook University, providing clean water (digging wells and using solar disinfection), distributing mosquito netting, and providing pre-natal vitamins to expectant mothers.

MAF has also begun to develop sustainability initiatives, the first one being the establishment of a women’s permaculture association that is growing productive crops previously not grown in the region.