News+Articles

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/02/14/dasilva/index.html



Marie da Silva says the name for her school comes from the Jacaranda tree, which symbolizes hope. Born and bred in Malawi, in southern Africa, Da Silva lost 14 family members, including her father and two brothers, to the disease. "AIDS is like The Plague in Malawi," says Da Silva. According to UNAIDS, 14 percent of the country's adult population is infected with HIV and more than half a million children have been orphaned by the disease. "Orphans [in Malawi] are very underprivileged -- the grandparents are trying to raise them, with no money, no food, no clothes," she says. "Just poverty." But from halfway around the world, as a nanny in Los Angeles, California, Da Silva provides a place where the orphans can get away from that -- The Jacaranda School. In 2002, Da Silva learned that the school in her southern Africa home town was going to close. Consumed with concern for the students, she urged her mother to let them gather and learn in their family home, with her financial support. "All the while I was doing my best for the kids here -- making sure they're doing their homework, eating well," she remembers. "I couldn't sleep just thinking about the children that need the same thing back in Malawi," says Da Silva. Thanks to Da Silva's passion, the school is now thriving in her childhood home and more than 200 children, most of whom are AIDS orphans, receive porridge every morning and education, free of charge. It is an effort that Da Silva funds almost entirely herself, sending $1,000, about one-third of her monthly paycheck, to pay the salaries of 12 teachers and the headmaster, and purchase whatever supplies she can afford. Several of her fellow nannies have even gotten involved, donating $10 a month to her foundation. While the classes are crowded and resources are few (there are only 15 books in the library, according to Da Silva), her efforts are working. "We have kids studying in our family living room, kitchen, gazebo, you name it. They're so hungry to learn," Da Silva explains. "This is their sanctuary." Da Silva named both the school and its supporting foundation after the Jacaranda tree. Not only does the tree grow both in Malawi and Los Angeles, but when her father was dying, she found solace in a blossoming Jacaranda tree that she could see from his hospital window. "For me, the Jacaranda tree symbolizes hope, and that's what I want to give to the children at the Jacaranda School," she says. "After the deaths of my family members and...seeing how everything else is suffering, the only way around this was if kids have a future."She dreams of building a new school with lab facilities and a real library one day. "I just feel that if you give them the tools, they can be somebody. And that's my mission."
 * CNN) ** -- "When I visit Malawi, I visit my family at the graveyard," says Marie Da Silva, who knows the impact of AIDS all too well.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=6259110 =**Madonna Appeals to Fans to Donate to Malawi School**=

November 14, 2008     In a video posted on her Web site, the singer described her inspiration for building the multimillion dollar project.    "There are very few girls in Africa in general who are encouraged or allowed to go to secondary school, so after spending a lot of time there I realized that one of the ways I could help is to build a girls' school," said Madonna, who officially adopted a young Malawian boy, David Banda, in May.    "I would really be grateful if you would get involved and help me in any way that you can, with donations, spreading the word, visiting my Web site, reading about the progress that we've made so far," Madonna said in the appeal, which was posted on Thursday.   <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"> Madonna, 50, is currently on the U.S. leg of her world tour, and is going through a divorce from British film director Guy Ritchie. <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">  <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"> Talk show host Oprah Winfrey has also sought to improve the education of African girls, building a $40 million all-girl leadership academy in South Africa. <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">Madonna calls her project The Raising Malawi Academy for Girls. She has also established a charity for Malawi's orphans called Raising Malawi and produced a documentary this year about the plight of children orphaned by the AIDS crisis in one of the world's poorest countries. <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Jill Serjeant)
 * By Alex Dobuzinskis**