Contributor

Marie Da Silva

Founder, The Jacaranda Foundation

Marie Da Silva has been a nanny in the US for the last 19 years. She has taken care of more than 14 children. Marie is Malawian, born and raised in Malawi, Africa.
 
In the last decade, Marie lost fourteen members of her family to AIDS in Malawi. Losses included her father, two brothers, their wives, nieces and nephews. Conquering AIDS in Malawi became Marie's pursuit through a situation that arose in her village. 

Ten years ago, Marie learned a village school held in a Baptist church was to close and 50 students would be displaced without education. The majority of these children were AIDS Orphans, and this included her orphaned niece and nephew. Marie sprang into action!  

Along with her mother, Marie turned her childhood home into a school.  Shortly after opening their home, Marie's mother died of a sudden heart attack, but Marie continued the quest with the money she had earned as a nanny. Every part of this home, inside and out, was transformed into a learning center. Bedroom, dining room, living room, garage and gazebo became classrooms. The kitchen turned into a staff room and the pantry a library. In lieu of blackboards, the walls were painted black. There were no desks or chairs, the children sat on the floors and a few plastic stools. The library had eleven books, and learning materials and necessary school supplies were extremely limited. Limited money allowed only the employment of student teachers. Marie worked through the tedious task of foundation paperwork, thus the Jacaranda Foundation was born.

Three years into this endeavor, student attendance has grown to over 100.  Because children were dropping out of school due to hunger, Marie developed a program that would raise funds to pay for daily porridge. She reached out to ten of her U.S. nanny friends. Each gave $10 a month, and for the following three years, students were fed and they remained in school.

For seven years, Marie funded all the needs of the school with her personal earnings as a nanny in the U.S.. Each month, a third of her salary paid teachers and headmaster, purchased school supplies and funded the children's examination fees and uniforms.

By 2008, the student body had grown to 230 students, 98% of whom were orphaned by AIDS. In Malawi, all secondary schools charge attendance fees, and the Jacaranda School provides both primary and secondary schools free of charge. In addition, Marie funds students all the way to completion of college for free.  
 
In 2008, CNN nominated Marie for the Heroes award. Out of over 6,000 nominees, she made it to the top 10. On February 14, 2008 a three-minute clip was aired and for the first time, Jacaranda School received public donations. However, Marie continued to provide the schools’ needs using her salary and saved these donations for a greater purpose. The original school, once her house, was now too small and inadequate, and a more suitable building became a necessity. 

With the use of saved donations, on October 24, 2008 the new secondary school opened. One hundred sixty secondary students were moved from the house into the new facility. The house became the primary school and this shift created room for more orphans. As of 2012 there are 400 orphans.  Additional donations employed qualified teachers, purchased textbooks and necessary school supplies.

In November 2008, sixteen students took the high school MSCE (Malawi School Certificate Examinations), Malawi's national school exams. Seven passed and went on to college. Today, Jacaranda School pays board and tuition for 25 students attending college in Malawi. A sponsored student, Stella Kugwimba, now attends college in Pasadena, California, where she is studying business administration.

The first graduate from The Jacaranda School to complete primary/ secondary school and two years of college is now employed at ICB (International Commercial Bank in Malawi). Another Dyson is employed at an NGO, "Mary's Meal."

The academic progression has been remarkable! 2010 Jacaranda students entering college selected subjects such as rural development, business management, hotel and catering, carpentry and joinery, business administration and accountancy. This year graduates will qualify for higher education courses and receive Batchelor degrees. Last year four graduates passed with six credits each qualifying them for entrance examinations into Malawi's finest universities; Chancellor College, Bunda College, Mzuzu University, Polytechnic and Lilongwe Technical Universities.

2011 Jacaranda School's primary school pass rate is 95%, junior high school 86.5% and senior high school 56%. 

In 2007, the Jacaranda school library had only 11 books; as of 2012 there are over 6,000.  

Today, the school has toilets with running water, compared with the four pit latrines 230 students used for several years.

In 2010-2011 Marie introduced a self-sustainable program at the school, a chicken farm of 100 broilers and 200 layers. The layers provide eggs for the children, the broilers and excess eggs are sold for profit. There is also a vegetable farm. Here the children learn agriculture (a subject on the Malawian school curriculum). They plant crops such as maize, beans, soya, spinach, cabbages, tomatoes, carrots, Irish sweet potatoes and cassava. At maturity, vegetables are given to the children to take home to share with their family and excess is sold for profit that is used to maintain the school. This teaches the children self-sustainability, and how to be future farmers, businessmen and women.
 
In 2011 a nurse’s clinic opened, which was a significant addition to the school. A registered nurse is employed to maintain students health records while attending to every student. For the HIV positive children, the school also provides nutrition and transportation to and from the hospital to receive their ARVs (Antiretroviral HIV Treatment). 

In addition, the school gives at least 34 families a monthly allowance for their guardians so that the children do not go without food at home in the belief that if the household is stable, then the children will be able to attend school. Making sure that their grandmothers and guardians are not suffering at home.

Attending students come from ten surrounding villages. Jacaranda School on the whole is reaching out and making a difference in these areas to those extremely impoverished. These are the guardians of the children who were unable to work because of illness. Now the school provides employment such as caretakers of the grounds, builders, a gardener, electrician, plumber and guards. All this aid has created a more stable and healthy environment for everyone in the surrounding communities.

This year the school students took on a project of making solar lamps. Today each of the 400 children's households possess one solar lamp made by the students themselves. They continue to make them for an outreach program where they will distribute to other children in poor schools so it encourages the children to read and study at night.

Since her CNN Heroes recognition, Marie has become the spokesperson for the orphans of Malawi while raising awareness and funds. In 2009, Marie left her full-time job of 10 years as nanny for a family to devote all her time and efforts towards the Jacaranda Foundation. She now conducts workshops and speaks in schools across the U.S., China and Malawi. When Marie is not speaking, she works part-time as a nanny in order to maintain and support the foundation. As a result of Marie's speaking engagements, volunteers have come to Jacaranda from around the globe. The volunteers provide after school classes such as art, music, drama, sports and even French. Her story exemplifies how one person who believes change is possible can take action and make a difference. 

"From a young age I was taught hard work is a tool for reaching goals. I learned not to expect others to always come to the rescue. I know education is the key to a better, brighter future and this drives me to do all I can for the children. We teach AIDS Awareness classes at the school along with methods for attaining a self-sustainable life style. What I do is nothing extraordinary. The students are the future of our country and we teach them that being an orphan is not an imperfection.”  

For more information, visit:
www.jacarandafoundation.org 

Some facts on Marie.

a.   Engaged to be married.
b.   Lives in New York and Malawi.
c.  Does not have an apartment. Shares with friends.
d.  Has no office. Works from home.
e.  Has no workforce, e.g. PR, Agent, consultant, etc.
f.   All speaking engagements are word of mouth. People who hear her   story contact her.
g.  Became a nanny by choice. Wanted to work with children.
h.  Worked as a nanny for 19 years.
i.   Walks in every Aids Walk in USA.
j.   Believes in giving girls a chance in education. 50 % students at her school are girls.
k.  Working on making the school into being self sustainable. Most of all, teaching the students methods of being self sustainable. 
l    Believes that one does not have to be Bill Gates to make a difference.
m.  Loves music, dance, books, art and museums.
n.   Wants to duplicate the school she built in other poor villages in Malawi.
o.  Truly believes education is the key to a better, brighter future.
p.  Believes women in Africa should be taken seriously. They can change a lot, for the good.
q. Completed lower, middle and high school at "Our Lady of wisdom Convent in Malawi. 
r.   Believes in saving the environment, going Green, recycling and Windmills in Malawi.
s.  Worked with 14 children in her 19 years of being a nanny, some full-time and many part-time. Worked as Ricki Lake's nanny for 10 years.
u.  Her Dream is, together with schools and specialists, to create an Aids Curriculum  which will be taught as  a subject in every school in Malawi and hopefully other schools in Africa. 
v.  Her friend, Luc Deschamps, now lives in Malawi and is director of the school. He was the one who nominated her as a CNN Hero. She made it to top 10. 
w.  Received the key to the City of Los Angeles from Mayor Villaragossa.
x.  Studied Marine Insurance at  The City Of London Polytechnic before becoming a nanny. 
y.  2010 received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the President of Malawi.
z.  Is not afraid to make that move, especially when it comes to helping others.  


 email:  marie.b.dasilva@gmail.com

Telephone in Malawi. 011 (265) 999919056.

The Jacaranda Foundation is a 510(c)3 nonprofit organization  and is tax-deductible. 

Submit a tip

Do you have info to share with HuffPost reporters? Here’s how.