Meraki Smile School

Empowering Students, Building Futures

Welcome to Meraki Smile School, a non-profit school aimed at providing high-quality education to underprivileged children in Antananarivo, Madagascar. With a mission to make a lasting impact on the community, Meraki Smile School is dedicated to building an easily replicable model of an international school that can be applied in any country while promoting local development through cooperation and sustainability.

Meraki Smile School first year graduation in 2022

Miriam, co-funder of the school, is a Spanish human rights advocate that actively supports the most vulnerable communities. Justin, co-funder and director of the school, is a young Malagasy social advocate with the dream of supporting his community. Although they come from different countries and backgrounds, both share the same vision and spirit to work together to provide free and high-quality education to children.

The school aims to become the second NGO in Africa to offer International Baccalaureate (IB) education for free.

Coming from the privilege of an IB education, Miriam realised the difference it can make in the life of a young person and started working to offer the same education she received to children that currently have no means to access it.

Building Hope for Meraki, One Brick at a Time, organized by Miriam Agüero

Donate to support meraki smile school

<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/bc6f26d6-ae36-4f7c-99b5-8f26ab927460/plant.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/bc6f26d6-ae36-4f7c-99b5-8f26ab927460/plant.png" width="40px" /> How everything started

</aside>

Meraki Smile School was funded in 2020 and opened its first class to students in 2021 in a suburb of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, where 97% of the population does not finish secondary education. The school's first fundraising campaign raised over 15,000€ in just 6 months, enough to welcome the first 30 students from a poor slum outside the city called Ambodiampanga.

Currently, the school has 45 students, 15 more than last year, who receive daily meals, basic healthcare, medical checks, and free high-quality education.

To ensure the project's sustainability, Meraki Smile School works with a team of 6 local teachers and employees who are hired for all positions in the school. The school also receives support from an international group of volunteers based across the world. Volunteers are allocated to six departments, including Education, Partnership, PR, Fundraising, Marketing and Human Resources. Twenty of the volunteers are business students part of the Meraki Club at ESMT Berlin.

Meraki Club - Student Clubs & Associations

<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/25906360-9793-4312-a77d-7a86ceb71989/partners.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/25906360-9793-4312-a77d-7a86ceb71989/partners.png" width="40px" /> Our Partners

</aside>

Finnova