Our first students graduated!
February 2009: Seven of our students (two girls, five boys) graduated from the Jacaranda school: they passed their MSCE (Malawi School Certificate of Education), the national exam secondary school students must pass in order to enter university or colleges. This is a huge achievement for all of us at the Jacaranda Foundation, since these students are our first graduates. In 2007, five students took the exam but they all failed, due to the lack of resources at the school. This year, out of 15 candidates, 7 passed, a higher result than the national average success rate in Malawi (40%). These students are very derserving as they were studying within my house, without desks and with very few books. And they live in very difficult conditions at home, without electricity to do their homework at night, and without parents encouraging them to go on with their studies.
In 2008, we were able to build a proper secondary schoolblock with four classrooms that welcome 160 students who can now study in better conditions (the primary school students still use my family house as their school).
The construction of the science laboratory is now our key project. Without the laboratory, our students cannot take physical science as a subject in Form 3 and Form 4 classes (the last two years of secondary school), which then forbids them from entering medical schools and engineering schools in Malawi.
The construction of the laboratory will turn the Jacaranda school into a high quality institution, providing entirely free primary and secondary education to orphans, and gving them a chance to graduate and pursue scientific studies, get a good job and change their lives. Thank you for helping us improve the quality of education we offer these orphans.
November 2008: I was honored with a Top Ten CNN Hero award for the work I do for the orphans of Malawi. Since this CNN recognition, I has been conducting workshops and speaking in schools across the U.S, raising awareness about what the orphans are facing not only in Africa, but all over the world.
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