Burscough volunteer encourages others to follow in footsteps in Madagascar charity work

Oct 4 2012 by Rob Pattinson, Ormskirk Advertiser

AN INTREPID volunteer from Burscough jetted off halfway around the world to help a village community on the island of Madagascar.

Jonny Comber spent 10 weeks in the small village of Sainte Luce earlier this year, where he helped in the maintenance of school buildings, built latrines and planted hundreds of trees.

And now, fresh from his “life-changing” experience, the 20-year-old is hoping to encourage others to follow in his footsteps.

Jonny, who had never been away from home before, signed up to a month working with a charity called Azafady, in Madagascar.

Along with a team of locals, he helped build verandas around two existing schools to protect them from the elements and carried out essential repair work on the buildings, built 30 school benches and two latrines and planted 8,000 trees.

Following his trip, he said: “Volunteering for Azafady was one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life and I’d encourage everyone to have a look at what the charity’s all about.

“I gained a new desire – a desire to see the world, do good things with my life, but more importantly, to return to Madagascar to help one of the poorest countries on this planet, its people and wildlife.”