From March 5-7, Medical Care Development International (MCDI)'s Fonds d'Appui pour l'Assainissement (FAA) project (funded by the Global Sanitation Fund) participated in Madagascar's Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Week 2019 in Antananarivo, Madagascar. The national event is organized by the Ministry of Energy, Water, and Hydrocarbons, which is in charge of the WASH sector within the country. The Minister invited all implementation, technical and financial partners of the sector to springboard future collaborations and partnerships.

The week of WASH aims primarily to: establish strong professional ties between the Minister of Energy, Water and Hydrocarbons Vonjy Andriamanga and the sector's stakeholders; promote exchanges and sharing on the achievements, issues and challenges that await us until 2023 and 2030; and explore opportunities for sector development at the national and international levels.

The events of the week included exhibitions of partner organizations, meeting sessions between the Andriamanga and stakeholders, a private meeting between the Ministry and the technical and financial stakeholders, and the official launch of the "Madagasikara Madio 2025," or "Clean Madagascar 2025" national strategy which focuses on the eradication of open defecation in Madagascar.

During an exchange and sharing session between the ministry and sector stakeholders, the FAA team presented on the theme of sustaining the achievements of Community-Led Total Sanitation, including achievements, challenges and lessons learned from the project. Since 2010, the project has enabled over 16,000 villages in Madagascar to obtain open defecation free status.

MCDI hosted an exhibition booth at the event which provided information on FAA's technical approach of Community-Led Total Sanitation and its results over the past nine years in Madagascar. During his visit to MCDI's booth, Andriamanga stated that the FAA project plays an important role in achieving the objectives of "Madagasikara Madio 2025."

What is your ideal career path after graduation from the University of South Carolina?

Immediately after graduating from the University of South Carolina, I hope to serve in the Peace Corps in the Community Economic Development Sector. While my sights are not dead set on any specific country quite yet, I am hoping to be placed in an African country! Afterwards, I plan to return to the US, get my MBA, and begin a career in corporate social responsibility through work with major companies and corporations. I am definitely open to any twists or turns along the way!

How do you think your internship with MCDI will prepare you for your future career path?

People find their way into corporate social resposibility in many different ways, and I feel that my time with MCDI will help me find the path that is best suited for me. My ultimate goal for my career will always be to do the most good for as many possible, so as long as the projects I work on and the passions I pursue fit into that framework, I will always feel like I am being prepared for my future career path. I feel that my MCDI internship will give me a competitive advantage over others heading into my career field because I am getting to not only talk about the work I do, I'm experiencing it as well!

What are you most excited about learning during your internship?

I am most excited to learn how what happens in an office can translate into change in the community. Not a lot of people have the chance to work on a project this closely, from behind a desktop and in the field. I am getting the opportunity to do both, which I do not take lightly. I look forward to working with others who care deeply about the work they do, and learning from people who have much different lived experiences than me. Overall, I believe this experience will be transformative for me and I hope to help people in the same way others before me have.