Marie likes children
My friends, I would like to ask you to pledge a few minutes of your time to vote for Marie da Silva who has been nominated for the 2008 CNN Hero of the Year. Just like me, Marie comes from the small African nation of Malawi where 10 people die of Aids every hour.One million out of a population of 13 million are infected by the HIV/AIDS virus.Over 1 million children have been orphaned by AIDS. Less than 10% of Malawian teenagers go to Secondary School. Moved by these alarming statistics, Marie founded the Jacaranda Foundation in September 2005 with the hope of raising the awareness and funds needed to educate orphans in Malawi.This organization believes that caring for children and educating them will reduce the AIDS pandemic in Malawi.
Marie, herself, lost lost 14 family members, including her father and two brothers, to HIV/AIDS. She has been working as a nanny in the United States for the past twelve years. The Jacaranda Foundation runs a school in her family’s house in Malawi.200 children, most of whom are AIDS orphans, receive porridge every morning and education, free of charge. Marie funds this effort 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. Read the full story here and watch the video below.
Remember to vote for Marie today!You can vote multiple times, each vote counts. Please forward this message to all your contacts. If you are a blogger, I encourage you to publish a post on this issue.Voting closes on November 20th, 6AM ET.
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7 users commented in " CNN Hero of the Year:Vote for Marie Da Silva! "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackOmg, she is really so brave and noble. It’s impressive what is she doing for the kids in Malawi. She is already a hero.
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not many people would be able to contribute 1/3 of take home pay for others (that includes me)
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What a story! I have voted for her.
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Woow..that is a compelling story. I did not know that 10 people die from aids every hour! That statistic is staggering and apalling. I can’t believe that one! I mean, I knew Aids was a big problem in Africa, but wow!
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now she is an everyday here! Bless her heart!
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I meant hero sorry!
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Clem,
I received your ‘blognews’ around 7 pm.
There was the Marie’s great, true story.
As I have strong family ties with Malawi, I browsed at once the Jacaranda Found. website.
And made my mind up to recreate a blog – for the time being – to resume to foster Italian-Malawian sincere, effective, long term bounds.
It will be in Italian and standard English, mostly, but Chichewa will be welcome.
I would start with posting the story of Marie and the Jacaranda world…, in Italian.
Soon, as just written in my reply to your ‘blognews’, I’ll take other actions.
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I would really appreciate if you could use your name when commenting.Using just keywords makes your comment seem spammy, and it's liable to get deleted.Please read my comment policy for more details.Many thanks for your cooperation!
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