What the field taught us
The Field Changed How We Think.
Our work in Ambovombe did not confirm every assumption we brought with us. It changed some of them.
More than 200 days of field presence, partnership with TERATANY, and learning from women, families, community leaders, public institutions, and professionals have shaped how IRC Africa Inc. thinks about protection, opportunity, and locally led change.
These are not final answers. They are lessons we use to make better decisions.
Madagascar
Ambovombe - Androy Region
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01
Field Presence Builds Trust
Trust is not created through a short visit or a well-written plan. It grows through repeated presence, listening, keeping commitments, and remaining available when circumstances become difficult.
Working in Ambovombe has shown us that direct human relationships are not separate from the work. They are part of the foundation for responsible action.
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02
Local Leadership Leads the Work
Local knowledge is not an accessory to an international plan. It shapes what is relevant, what is possible, and what may cause harm.
TERATANY and the local team lead daily management, community relationships, and decisions that require language, cultural understanding, and local judgment. International partnership should strengthen that leadership, not replace it.
Good intentions are not enough. The field has to be allowed to change the plan.
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03
Protection Is the First Step
Immediate safety can save a life. That is why Ny Trano Manga exists.
But women do not all need the same next step. Some need time to recover. Some return to family or community. Some need legal, medical, educational, or economic support. Some may later choose to pursue employment, training, or entrepreneurship.
There is no automatic transition from the shelter into another program. Protection comes first, and each woman must be able to make decisions according to her own circumstances.
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04
Women at the Center. Broader Perspectives Strengthen Change.
Women and girls remain at the center of our work and will remain the primary participants in the programs we are developing.
In appropriate education, employment, entrepreneurship, and community programs outside the shelter, up to 20% of participants may be men. Their participation is intended to broaden perspectives and strengthen shared responsibility, while women remain the clear majority and central focus.
Ny Trano Manga remains for women and girls affected by violence and their children.
Women remain at the center. Men can be part of the change.
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05
Respect, Humility, and Learning Change the Plan
People may be unfamiliar with a technology, a process, or a professional setting without lacking the ability to learn.
Lack of familiarity with a tool is not lack of ability.
Respect means taking time to understand how people learn, what pressures they face, and which assumptions come from our own background rather than theirs.
Our working method is simple: Listen. Test. Learn. Adapt.
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06
The Climate Crisis Is Also a Gender Crisis
In Androy, drought, water scarcity, cyclones, flooding, and food insecurity affect entire communities. Their consequences are not gender-neutral.
When resources become scarce, women and girls may face greater economic dependence, interrupted education, early or forced marriage, unsafe migration, exploitation, and violence. Climate resilience and women’s safety cannot be treated as separate issues.
This understanding is one reason we are examining the connections among climate, oceans, local livelihoods, research capacity, and gender.
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07
When Survival Comes First, Priorities Change
A choice that appears focused only on the short term may be entirely rational when a family does not know how it will eat tomorrow.
Training, saving, or investing in a future activity can become impossible when today’s food, water, transport, childcare, or medical needs are not addressed.
Programs must be designed around the realities of women’s lives. Expecting women to reorganize those realities around a program is not a serious plan.
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08
Funding Should Protect Today and Build Independence for Tomorrow
Philanthropic funding remains essential. A shelter cannot operate on the expectation that women in crisis will pay for protection, and locally led organizations cannot build strong systems without reliable support.
Funding can also do more than cover today’s emergency. It can strengthen staff, systems, training, employment pathways, entrepreneurship, research capacity, and local organizations that remain after an individual grant ends.
Protection and independence are not competing goals. Responsible funding should help sustain both.
The Field Keeps Teaching. We Keep Learning.
What we learn in Ambovombe continues to shape how we protect women today and build opportunities for tomorrow.