Interview with Marie da Silva in Malawi

Below are the questions and answers during a recent interview with Marie, which gives more insight in the enormous dedication and effort that is being placed by the Jacaranda team:

Q: Marie, Are you now full-time employed within Jacaranda or do you still work partly with children in USA?

A: I have been a full time nanny for the past 15 years and I worked for Ricki Lake for the last 10 years. After I was nominated as CNN Hero, I decided to concentrate on working full time for the Jacaranda Foundation. My goal is to fundraise through grants and word of mouth and I speak in many schools across the US, trying to get the youth involved in community service. I believe that by doing so the youth will make a difference.

I still work as a part time nanny at weekends and in the evenings so as to raise money for my personal upkeep. My work for Jacaranda is a volunteer work, just like Luc in Malawi.

Q:. How do you foresee the future (financial) sustainability of the Jacaranda school? Do you have annual sponsors or support? I saw on that you have built a vegetable (mais) garden as additional help to provide for daily foods for the children?

A: I would like to see the Jacaranda school as a model school for orphans in Malawi. When it comes to the financial sustainability of the school, I would like to get some backing from the government of Malawi, especially to pay our teachers' wages and school supplies such as textbooks, chalk, exercise books, pens and pencils, etc. This can only be achieved if we complete the infrastructure of the school. Government regulations require the school is properly equipped before they can help funding it. We are currenlty building modern toilets (instead of the pit latrines children have been using for 7 years). The physics and science lab is a key element for us to be recognized as a registered primary and secondary school. Wihtout it, we cannot be recognized.

We do not have annual sponsors or support. This is the reason why I want to concentrate on full time work with the Jacaranda Foundation in order for me to gather regular supporters and sponsors.

Regarding the children's food, we are fortunate that Mary's Meals, an organization working in Malawi, has provided us with the porridge and the cooking ustensiles. This makes a huge difference for me, as I don't have to worry about sourcing revenues for the food (except for the sugar). The garden is also a very important project for us. We teach the children how to grow different vegetables, and our whole focus is to develop a sustainable garden. We are in the works of exploring a special "compost program" so as not to use any artifical fertilizer. We expect very good results with this method. We could then develop the garden project by encouraging and teaching the children's guardians to do the same at their homes. In the village, many people have tiny pieces of land around their houses that they cultivate. With a better understanding of the soil renewable resources, they could multiply the harvests and diversify the crops.

Q: How many children do you have right now at the (primary and secondary) Jacaranda?

A: We have 200 children in primary school, and 120 secondary school students, for a total of 320. 95% of them have been orphaned by AIDS. We have an equal amount of boys and girls, because we encourage girls to come to school and to stay in school.

Q: Naturally you are hoping for graduated teens to continue to university or college? How is this being organised/financed, any help
from official authorities?

A: We are in the works of setting up what we call the "Jacaranda Tertiary Education Program". Last year for the first time, seven of our Form 4 students graduated from our secondary school. We are now sending 7 of them to college here in Malawi, with boarding facilities. We have approached our friends and contacts to help fund this initiative but so far we have only been partially successful. We have funds for the first term only, we hope to be able to raise more funds as the program develops. The students are actually starting college this coming Monday, 29th of June. The government cannot help us at this point since the school is not fully recognized because of the lack of facilities.

Q: How are the job prospects in Malawi for the graduates?

A: Job prospects in Malawi are good, as the country is rapidly developing (7% growth last year). Once they graduate from college, we will also try and help the students find employment. Having our orphaned students graduate, find a job and be able to support themselves and their family, is our final goal.

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