American Teen Breathes Life into Rosary Devotion among Children in Madagascar

Antananarivo, 01 December, 2025 / 11:57 PM

In his regular reports about his experience in Africa, Asher Kaufman who is visiting several African countries to grow the Children’s Rosary  movement on the continent wrote this about Madagascar, “My work here looks a little different from what I was doing in Kenya or Tanzania. This is because we have not previously had groups in Madagascar, and even the children’s familiarity with the Rosary is less here.”

The 18-year-old from Connecticut USA arrived in Madagascar on November 8, after visiting Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya as part of his year-long trip to grow the Marian devotion globally.

He later shared with ACI Africa the excitement he witnessed among Malagasy children after they prayed the Rosary for the first time in groups.

Asher said that unlike in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda where Rosary prayers were commonplace among children, Malagasy children’s familiarity with the Rosary was low. He therefore had to spend more time with the children in each school or parish he visited, starting prayer groups from scratch, before moving to the next destination. 

“Oftentimes, when I would start talking, I would ask the children, “how many of you are familiar with the Rosary already? How many of you have prayed it already, at least once?” And as I expected, in a lot of classes, a good number of children would raise their hands. But then, that was not the case in the schools I visited in Madagascar. Here, I would find that almost no one had prayed the Rosary,” Asher told ACI Africa, comparing his experience in Madagascar and the rest of the African countries he had visited.

“I spent much more time at each place in Madagascar than I did in Kenya or Tanzania,” he said in the November 27 interview with ACI Africa, and explained, “I would visit a school talking about the Rosary itself. I would briefly narrate the history of the Rosary, why it is important for spiritual life, and why it is important for the children to pray it on a regular basis. And then I would kneel with them to pray, one class after the other.”

“I spend sometimes several days at the same school going back and being with different classes each day to do that,” he said.

In Madagascar, Asher met children who he said are “not as used to the idea of praying the rosary regularly as a group” as the children he had met in the other African countries he had visited.

Asher recounted his experience in Kenya where the Children’s Rosary movement, founded by his mother Dr. Blythe Marie Kaufman 15 years ago, has been growing for 10 years now. 

In Kenya, he went to the Dioceses of Ngong’, Nairobi and Mombasa, visiting existing groups. He also visited Malindi and started new groups there.

About the East African country he first visited when he was only 12 year old, he said, “Kenya is a country where we have had groups for a long time, dating back about 10 years. And so when I was visiting Kenya, I wasn't just trying to start new groups, but also visiting groups that already exist.”

In Kenya, young people who read about his work invited him to address online gatherings.

His trip in Kajiado within Ngong’ took him down memory lane. “In Kajiado, I went to the outstation of St. Raphael that I visited back in 2019 with my family when we came to Kenya. I got to meet a lot of the same people I met when I was twelve, and they remembered me as well. It was just a very cool experience,” he said.

Before embarking on the African tour, Asher volunteered at the La Salette Shrine in France. Members of the La Salette Order (MS) in France introduced him to their community in Antsirabe which is about five hours south of the capital, Antananarivo. That is where he stayed while in Madagascar.

In Antsirabe, Asher visited various parishes and schools including the Our Lady of La Salette School and St. Therese of the Child Jesus School. He also visited children cared for by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd and started a Rosary movement there.

Even with their limited familiarity with the Rosary, the children’s excitement after learning the prayer and reciting it in a group, would be automatically evident. 

Speaking about the reaction of the Malagasy children he interacted with Asher said, “I was very impressed with the way the children were able to, even if they weren't familiar with the structure of the Rosary, lead the prayers. They were very devout. Eyes closed, hands together, they all prayed the Rosary, even the kindergarten children.”

After praying, Asher would ask the children what the Rosary experience meant for them, and their responses, he said, would always be amazing.

“One boy told me that he liked praying the rosary because it helped him to prepare for eternal life. And another person said that the prayer respects Mary, which they liked,” he recalled.

On why familiarity of the Rosary is low among Malagasy children, Asher cited misconceptions and the general dearth of organized children’s groups in the country.

“I terms of the specifics of Madagascar, I can’t confidently say that I understand them completely. But from what was explained to me, there's kind of the perception, which is certainly not unique to Madagascar, that the Rosary is mainly something for older people, some kind of devotion that's popular among older individuals, and that it's not something that children would be interested in,” he said.

“I would say also that there aren't as many apostolates here that are dedicated to organizing children into church activities,” he added.

Asher told ACI Africa that as he visits African countries and elsewhere in his attempt to grow the Children’s Rosary movement, he intends to always stay connected to the groups he is helping establish.

The 18-year-old arrived in Madagascar when the country was just recovering from a major political upheaval that saw the president ousted and stripped of citizenship following weeks of widespread protests.

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Asher told ACI Africa that all he experienced in the country’s capital was calm.

“I don't have any stories of political strife, really, because when I arrived, it was all died down, as far as I could perceive,” he said of the country’s political situation, and added, “I'm no expert on the situation here, but… when I arrived in the capital, which is where a lot of the protests were, there was no unrest, there was nothing that I could perceive that disrupted my visit.”

The American teen also spoke about the rest of his trip in Africa after the three weeks stay in Madagascar.

From the island nation located off the southeastern coast of Africa, Asher was planning his travel to South Africa where he foresaw “a busy schedule” staring November 27.

“I'll be going kind of all over the country, starting in Johannesburg,” he said, and added, “That will be a little over two weeks.”

From South Africa, he plans to head to Cameroon where he will stay until early January.

Asher’s trip to seven African countries is part of his discernment as he prepares to join the Major Seminary in September 2026 for the Archdiocese of Hartford.