Families depend on scavenging items from trash bins to survive. This activity defines the days and nights of about twenty households living in Ambohijatovo.
“We sometimes leave at 7 a.m. and don’t return until 8 p.m. Only then do we prepare a meal. Then, around 3 a.m., we head back to Ampefiloha to sell what we have collected,” explains Claude Rakotoarialala, a resident of the neighborhood.
Incomes remain very modest. “The items we manage to sell bring us about 8,000 ariary per week,” confides Justin, a father living with his grandson. About twenty families currently occupy this site in precarious conditions. “Our main wish is for everyone to have their own house, instead of living huddled in fragile shelters. None of the children here go to school,” he laments.
For two years, Justin has lived with his grandson in a shelter made of plastic bags. However, he claims to own family land in Ambohimandry, south of Imerintsiatosika. Since it is shared among many heirs, any construction project remains impossible. “We would like to have a house like everyone else,” he says.
Daily life in this neighborhood has not always been this peaceful. “Before, there were many thieves here. Life was difficult because we would even steal from each other,” testifies Claude Rakotoarialala. Today, the landscape has changed. The brush and piles of trash have been removed, and agents from the Urban Commune of Antananarivo (CUA) regularly come to clean the area. “So far, no one has asked us to leave,” Justin specifies.
Facing the cold and bad weather, the residents try to adapt with the means at their disposal. “We try to cover ourselves as best we can. When it rains, we collect plastic bags from trash bins to reinforce the walls and roofs of our shelters. We also dig small channels around the dwellings to prevent water from seeping in,” says Miarisoa, a mother. But when the rains are too heavy, these protections are no longer enough. “When conditions become really difficult, we sleep in the tunnels,” she adds.
Despite the precariousness, these families are not just asking for food aid. Their priority lies elsewhere: living in a more dignified environment.
Captured & Published at: 2026-07-15 05:41:53 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/07/habitat-le-combat-quotidien-des-sans.html