Ares-Madagascar, a nonprofit based in Saint-Jean near Toulouse, has spent more than twenty years running active programs on the ground in Madagascar, delivering services across health, education, water infrastructure, and agricultural support. The organization operates primarily in two regions: the northeast of the island and Ambohitompoina, roughly one hundred kilometers south of Antananarivo.
Founded in 2004 by Louis Musso and Monique Riquet, the association has grown its operational footprint considerably over two decades. Field coordination is now handled by Sister Rosalie, a trained nurse working from facilities the organization has built and staffed directly.
Water infrastructure is the organization’s largest completed intervention. Ares-Madagascar has overseen the drilling of 578 wells, distributed across the northeast region and the area surrounding Ambohitompoina, delivering clean water access to more than 200,000 residents. The wells remain the single biggest infrastructure project the organization has executed at scale.
In Antsoha, the organization runs a school facility built on land where a medical dispensary was first constructed in 2014. The school currently serves more than 350 children from preschool through eighth grade. A dental clinic has since been added to the site. Classroom operations are supported by sponsorship arrangements coordinated from France, with individual contributors funding ongoing activity.
Medical supply delivery has been a consistent part of operations. Since 2014, Ares-Madagascar has transported medical equipment and nutritional products to two dispensaries, with logistical support from Aviation Sans Frontières, a nonprofit air transport provider. In 2026 alone, the organization shipped 25 cubic meters of medical materials, equipment that supported more than 250 surgical procedures at partner facilities.
Meanwhile, agricultural support extends the organization’s reach beyond health and education. Ares-Madagascar provides small-scale farmers in its service areas with equipment, livestock (primarily zebu cattle), and assistance forming cooperative groups to strengthen market access and production capacity.
Cyclone damage has added reconstruction work to the operational load. Following recent storm damage, the organization funded the rebuilding of teacher housing and two classroom structures that had been destroyed, restoring capacity at affected sites.
The organization will host an open house on November 28 at the Alex Jany space in Saint-Jean to present its work. The event will feature Malagasy cuisine, sales of local goods and spices including vanilla, video documentation from the Antsoha school, and an exhibition and sale of paintings and watercolors. Whether that gathering raises enough to sustain the reconstruction pipeline and the next shipment cycle will be the practical test that follows.