The situation of the children in the diocese is quite harsh. Parents are often very young and poor and they have a large number of children. There are also many single mothers, abandoned by their husbands, with infants and toddlers in their charge. Countless difficulties are tied to lack of sufficient food and illnesses. School attendance is very low, especially in the bush areas. For these reasons, the diocese supports children with school lunch programmes and school supplies and with sanitary support in health centres.
Children are organised and formed in a missionary spirit, through movements such as FET, TAMPRI and Scouts. In Antananarivo, they participated in the celebration of the 175 anniversary of the foundation of the Missionary Childhood and they contributed generously to the Universal Solidarity Fund of the Holy Childhood.
3000 children are the beneficiaries of the project.
(According to official statistics published by the Holy See in 2020, the diocese of Mananjary has 1,144,140 inhabitants, including 175,626 Catholics - 6.51% of the population. There are 16 parishes, 41 priests including 17 diocesan and 23 religious, 1 ordained priest in 2019, 1 deacon, 5 seminarians, 25 religious brothers, 99 religious sisters. The diocese operates 10 assistance and charitable centers and 51 schools).
