MADAGASCAR Victoire, aged 30

Since the age of 5, Victoire has limped and is in pain when she walks. Long distances are unbearable. “It put me off going to school, in the bush, a kilometre from home “, she explains. When she was old enough to go to secondary school, her parents moved to Mahajanga. The distance to school was reduced, but Victoire still faced anxieties that isolated her and hurtfull looks from other people. But she didn’t give up ; she went on to university, just to find that the classrooms were inaccessible and the hustle and bustle of the students knocked her off balance. Today, at the age of thirty, after a year studying science and a training course in dress-making, Victoire cannot find work. Poverty is now her biggest disability. 

“To get around town, I have to walk a lot. The other solution would be public transport, but I can’t afford it. I mainly just stay at home. I just go out to do a few hours’ cleaning or to go to church”, explains Victoire, who lives with her mother and four of her seven brothers and sisters. How can she break out of this vicious circle? The young woman hopes that her town will at least become more accessible: “I would love to be able to get out and do my shopping.“