Angelica, Jimmy, Charlotte, Jenny, Thibaut and Lydia, all Montpellier Business School master's program students, have focused their Prometheus Project on fundraising for the association 10000 briques pour un village (10,000 bricks for a village), which helps villages in Madagascar. (Prometheus Projects allow Grande Ecole master's program students to work in teams and to strengthen their involvement in civic activities and world affairs.) To meet their goals, they organized a day of solidarity at the Anges Gardiens elementary school in Montpellier.

"As Mr. Dumont often says, ‘A brick is a brick.' In other words, every step is a step that moves the project forward," the Prometheus Project students explain. Christian Dumont, president of 10000 briques pour un village, asked them to mount an awareness and fundraising campaign. The students decided to introduce Madagascar and the association to a kindergarten class.

Giving the Association a New Image

The central idea of ​​the project was that children would be helping other children. Targeting schools had never been done by the association and the students thought that this was a way they could give the association a new image and reach a different audience.

"If we're all in graduate school now, it's because we were able to pursue our studies,” Jenny says. “This project allows children to teach themselves, to share and to learn to form opinions about the world, and about life and its challenges."

Responsible Management

The 200 euros raised by the students were used to construct a water tower, which is now operational. "The water tower feeds different water sources in the school: showers, wash basins, toilets, faucets for the future garden and for the cafeteria -- our future projects," says the president of the association.

"Some might say that the funds we collected are modest, but what we learned from this experience is priceless," the students say.

Making students aware of social and humanitarian causes through group projects such as this one is essential in helping them appreciate the concept of responsible management. As the project participants wrote in their report, "We came to study at this business school because we knew it would give us the opportunity to work while at the same time respecting certain of our values:  responsibility , commitment and sharing."

The Prometheus Project will continue its work with the association 10000 briques pour un village this year. If you want to participate, please contact: Virginia Maitre at v.maitre@ supco-montpellier.fr

THE ASSOCIATION 10000 BRIQUES POUR UN VILLAGE

The association, whose headquarters are in Roujan, in the Hérault department of France, aims to aid in the educational, health, social and economic development of rural villages in Madagascar; to collect funds for this assistance and to establish a responsible partnership with the villages. Therefore, no action is taken without the knowledge of the villages and villagers and without prior consultation. Villagers contribute to the projects in order to reduce costs and show their commitment. They are also responsible for maintenance of the projects.

For more information: http://madagascar-10000briquespourunvillage.org

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