Twins are a blessing
In Mananjary, Madagascar, twins are still seen as a curse — and mothers are expected to abandon them at birth. The Association of Mothers of Twin Children (AMEJ) stands with the mothers who said no.
What is Fady Kambana?
In Mananjary, a town on the east coast of Madagascar, an old custom called fady kambana — the twin taboo — is still alive. Among the Antambahoaka people, twins are considered a curse. When an Antambahoaka woman, or the wife of an Antambahoaka man, gives birth to twins, she is expected to give them up and reject the babies as soon as they are born.
A mother who refuses and keeps her twins is often abandoned by her husband and her family, and discriminated against by society. AMEJ exists to stand beside these mothers — and to give their children a chance.
Mananjary, Madagascar
How the association was born
“I am a doctor at the health centre in the city of Mananjary, responsible for maternal and child health. In 2021, mothers of twins began coming to my consultations with their babies — most of the twins underweight and malnourished. I prescribed vitamins and advised the mothers to supplement breast milk with formula. They answered that they had no means to buy vitamins, let alone milk: they had been abandoned and rejected by their husbands and families because of their decision to keep their twin babies — and discriminated against by society.
So I gave some mothers money to buy milk for their twins. Time passed, and there were so many of them that I could no longer help them all. That is why I suggested they create an association of mothers of twin children — and that is how AMEJ was born. Out of maternal instinct and love, these mothers find the strength and the courage to raise their twin children on their own — in the face of custom, discrimination and abandonment.
Mothers of twins have existed here for a long time, but they lived in silence, in the shadow of society. In April 2022 the Association of Mothers of Twin Children was officially created, so that these mothers can show the world that they exist — and that they need your support more than anything.”
What we fight for
Lift the taboo
Step by step, we work to lift the fady. The mothers of twin children live and mingle with society — though still far from the house of the customary king, called the Tragnobe.
Improve lives
We improve the everyday lives of mothers of twins and their children: food, milk, care — and a community that stands together when everyone else turns away.
Change the vision
We educate people — and other mothers of twin children — to look at twins with new eyes: as a blessing, not a curse.
What we want to build
1
A safe shelter
An emergency accommodation centre for mothers of twins and their children — Mananjary lies in Madagascar’s red zone for cyclones, and safe shelter can save lives.
2
A free health centre
A health centre where care for twin children will be free of charge, run by three salaried health workers.
3
A house for friends
Buildings for benefactors, volunteers and visitors — a place to stay for everyone who comes to Mananjary to support the association.
“You may wonder why I am in this association when I have no twin children myself. I am married to a man from Mananjary. He is a twin — and he has been a victim of discrimination since childhood, until this day. So it is also my fight. Our fight. I love children, I respect human rights — the right of every child to have parents and to be raised by their mother. Every life matters.”
Founder of AMEJ, doctor at the Mananjary health centre
The faces of AMEJ
Give the twin children a chance!
You could become our benefactor — our godfather! Every gift means milk, food, care and dignity for the twins of Mananjary.