Pedro Opeka, CM has been named a knight of the Legion of Honor. The award, decreed on October 12 by the President of France, recognizes his 20 years of public service of the poor in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
This award recognizes the ongoing fight led here against poverty by this man of faith and his 412 co-workers: physicians, midwives, teachers, engineers, technicians, and social workers, all of them from Madagascar.
Over 2,900 housing units, 6 out-patient clinics, 4 elementary schools, 4 junior high schools and 1 high school to prepare for the future of 9,275 children have been built here in Antananarivo. In addition 72 elementary public schools have been built throughout the country, not to mention what is being accomplished in the Fianarantsoa region, in the South East and in Antolojanahary where the AKAMASOA Association is taking part in agricultural programs and programs of systematic reforestation among others, in order to encourage farmers to become self sufficient.
Since the creation of the association in 1989, more then 250,000 people have turned to AKAMASOA for help, 17,000 of whom are being taken care of here on an ongoing basis, and over 2,000 jobs have been created in various fields.
However, there remains much to be done to help those thousands of disadvantaged children get a future, and also to solve the problem of the open air dumping ground that the association would like to have transferred away from the City and secluded as it should be to respect human dignity and the environment.
Details Fr. Opeka’s service have been added to the original post.