Marie da Silva

Marie da Silva is a Malawian AIDS activist and founder of the Jacaranda Foundation from Chembomba, Malawi.[1]

Marie da Silva
NationalityMalawi
Occupationnanny
Known forAIDS activist

History

Da Silva was born in Malawi but lost 15 of her relatives including two brothers and her father to AIDS.[2] She moved to the United States in order to work as a nanny in Los Angeles, California for actress Ricki Lake.[3][4][5] In 2002, she learned that her school in Chembomba was about to close.[1] She asked her mother to temporarily host classes in their family home so that the children could receive an education. She started funding the school with a third of her nanny pay and set up the Jacaranda Foundation to give free schooling to AIDS orphans in Malawi.[4][6] When her mother died, she approached French businessman Luc Deschamps for help running the school, which he assisted by becoming the director.[1]

The Jacaranda School eventually grew to over 400 students specializing in arts where she also teaches.[7] In 2008, da Silva was recognized by American broadcaster CNN as one of their 2008 CNN Heroes for her work in Malawian education.[4]

References
  1. Nation Online (2012-10-28). "Marie Da Silva". The Nation. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  2. Mark McGivern (2015-05-21). "Taste of Hope: Scots charity Mary's Meals help Malawian children diagnosed with HIV.. and those grieving because of it". Daily Record. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  3. "Malawi's Jacaranda School for Orphans Celebrates Christmas". Voanews.com. 2014-12-27. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  4. "CNN Heroes: Giving hope to orphans of AIDS". CNN. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  5. "Ricki Lake proud of former nanny turned CNN Hero". CNN. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  6. Nation Online (2012-10-23). "On promises, the great women of Malawi". The Nation. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  7. "Madonna motivated us— Marie Da Silva". The Times of Malawi. 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
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