Malagasy Red Cross volunteer profile: Tefinanandry
By: Nathalia Guerrero, Madagascar

Tefinanandry is a 24-year-old journalist and one of over 1,000 volunteers from the Malagasy Red Cross who will help distribute thousands of mosquito nets across the country during a malaria prevention campaign from October 22-30 2007.

Starting next week, Tefinanandry will visit every house in an area of 18 "foktan" or neighbourhoods in the region of Morondava, located on the West coast of Madagascar.

During this visits, he will encourage mothers with children under five to attend the distribution sites where over a million and a half Malagasy children will receive mosquito nets, vaccination against measles, vitamin A and deworming treatments throughout the campaign.

"I was born here and belong to these villages. People trust me and trust is one of the keys to mobilize communities," says Tefinanandry, who is very well known in the area for his journalistic work in a local radio station.

Tefi, as he likes to be called, works in a local news program in the mornings and in the afternoons participates in the activities organized by the local Red Cross. He first learned of the Red Cross through its disaster response and relief work in Morondava, an area frequently subjected to floods and cyclones.

Born in the village of Miandribazo, Tefinanandry believes that by examining people’s preconceptions, their living conditions and health can be improved. He gives an example of fishermen from some rural communities who often don't take their children to the doctor because of the traditional belief that sickness is the result of sorcery.

In the past, he explains, massive public health campaigns were carried out to educate people on the importance of seeing a doctor when a family member got sick, especially if it is a child. However, Tefi considers that these efforts have proved insufficient.

"We need to stop doing mass sensitization. People understand much better a message that is delivered to them one-on-one and not in a stadium full of people and noise," says Tefinanandra, who has participated in previous campaigns against tetanus and other local public health initiatives.

The young volunteer believes that one of the strengths of the campaign against malaria is precisely that the Red Cross is focusing on the social mobilization of vulnerable people. During the last months, over 1,000 Red Cross volunteers across the island were trained to go door to door and ensure people’s assistance to the distribution sites as well as proper use of the mosquito nets following the delivery.

Tefi enjoys very much working with people from the different national societies of the Red Cross which, as the Canadian Red Cross, are here to assist the Malagasy national society in the implementation of this massive campaign against malaria.

His mother died a few years ago and his father and brother live in different regions of the country. Despite his young age and the hardships he has gone trough, Tefi is a great example to other youth by his social commitment.

He works very hard to makes his dreams come true and assist the most vulnerable. One day, Tefi wishes to own a radio station and become a Red Cross coordinator in charge of disaster response operations.