Founded in 2005, the NGO FONDATION ÉCOLE DE FÉLIX has the following missions:
- To fight extreme poverty by focusing its actions on children in Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands region (Education & Health).
- To provide basic education (secondary school certificate equivalent) by prioritizing underprivileged areas (e.g. Ankarana).
A primary school delivers basic education to a population gaining access to schooling for the first time, in one of the most isolated and inaccessible regions of Madagascar. 750 children aged 3 to 16 are educated there free of charge, within one of the finest educational infrastructures in northern Madagascar.
- To promote vocational training accessible to all, enabling rapid integration into the economy and empowering young people to become active contributors to fast-paced development, firmly focused on building a better personal future.
Extracurricular educational projects are also developed to raise awareness of ecology and the challenges of reforestation in Madagascar. Holiday camps help strengthen social cohesion through team sports and visual arts.
Thanks to the generous support of partner companies and private donors across four continents, the FONDATION ÉCOLE DE FÉLIX has been able to implement its anti-poverty action plan—initially on the edge of the OSO biological reserve in Ankarana, and since 2021 at the heart of Father Pedro’s village in Akamasoa, Antananarivo.
Within the framework of the foundation, Guillaume Gomez created the Ankarana Culinary Excellence Institute in 2019.
Located “in the middle of nowhere,” at the foot of the Tsingy of Ankarana National Park and just a short distance from the island of Nosy Be and its vast tourism potential, this training center aims to provide a respected profession to cohorts of 12 apprentice chefs per year. The free, state-recognized diploma program is taught in French and follows an educational curriculum inspired by the CAP Cuisinier.
Equipped with two classrooms featuring video projection and a fully equipped training kitchen fitted with the latest French cooking technologies, this center of excellence was built in record time during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first class of 24 apprentice chefs inaugurated this “Embassy of French Culinary Knowledge” in October 2022.
