My Story My name is Anna Msowoya-Keys. I was born in 1962 in northern Malawi. My mom and dad were both teachers. They always stressed the need for education. I had six sisters and one brother. Each one of them was successful in their own way. We were a very close family. The Aids epidemic has hit my family hard. Three of my sisters and their husbands died from AIDS. Ten children were orphaned raised by my 82 year old mother. Although it was always my responsibility to help financially my mother did all the hard work. She was a mother to my nieces and nephews; she made sure they ate went to school and had clean clothes. If they were sick my mom took them to the hospital. My mother passed away in May of this year. My 60 year old brother has stepped in now to help. Of the 10 children who were orphaned we are most concerned about four of them the children of my sister Jane. Jane died two years ago. She left four children. They are now aged 14 to 20. I think often of all the other orphans who dont have an aunt or a grandmother to love them. I also think of the aunts and uncles who have to support their families children when they dont have enough money to support their own. I have lived in the US now for eight years. During that time it has been very important for me to stay engaged and do what I can to help my country. I support my family in Malawi as much as my husband and I can afford but the resources I can bring to bare as an individual are limited. Still I feel compelled to reach beyond my own to those with similar experiences and needs. I communicate frequently with Malawians who now live as I do in the US about the power we can have if we stay connected to those in need back home. I tell them that this is home and these orphans are our future. We need to nurture them and educate them for a better Malawi. Malawi has not had the fortune that some of its neighboring countries like Tanzania and Mozambique have experienced. Perhaps its most notable characteristic is that it remains one of the worlds poorest countries. In his new book about development Paul Collier a famous economist takes Malawi as his starting point. It is in Colliers words at the bottom of the global economic system; not even qualified as a developing country because development has failed entirely. As the title of his book The Bottom Billion suggests Malawi is a country not just falling behind but potentially falling apart. I am from the Northern region of the country one of the least developed regions. Indeed the devastation and loss that have resulted from the combination of poverty and AIDS is hard to describe. There are many families like mine and even more that are worse off because they dont have anyone to care for them. I am especially concerned about the long-term impact that the death of so many adults will have on future generations. Elders play a very important role in African culture and many extended families will have very few. When AIDS orphans grow up and start their own families they will not be able to count on their parents aunts and uncles to guide and support them as they raise their own children. They will one day be the elders of tomorrow and will need to act like the grandmothers and grandfathers that they never had. It is phenomenal to see that strangers feel as I do about these kids and the future of our country. I watched President Clinton talk to Oprah and Larry King about the beauty of giving explaining that most people give because it if feels good. I was in Malawi during his visit and saw him hug the children. They had hope in their eyes even if they did not know who or how important he is. Support like this and the resources it brings to Malawi are essential and very much appreciated. In my opinion though the most important thing we can do is to invest in education; not just any education but high quality education that will prepare Malawis children and give them the guidance they are going to lack as they grow up. The need is easy to describe: 47% of Malawis population is under the age of 15. 65% of Malawis live below the poverty line. Less than 18% of the eligible primary school graduates find a place in Malawis limited and overcrowded public high schools. The first democratically elected government introduced free primary education in 1994. Today more than 70 000 students pass the Primary School Leaving Certificate every year to become eligible for secondary school education but there are only about 4 000 places in government-funded schools. Although private secondary schools have opened to meet the resulting gap Malawi's enrolment rate of 1 in 25 children of secondary school going age is the lowest in Africa. There are many Malawian expatriates living in the States and similarly committed to Malawis children. A group of us have been working to figure out how we can make a difference for them. We decided that the best most tangible thing to do would be to help more children attend secondary school. This decision began the dream that is now Mzuzu Academy. In 2003 my Malawian friends and colleagues created a legally registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in the US. Mzuzu Academy is also registered as a public trust in Malawi. It will be a secondary boarding school located in the capital of the least developed region of the country. Among the many private schools established to advance personal financial gain Mzuzus not-for-profit status is one of many unique characteristics. It will be governed by Malawian and American citizens born and educated in Malawi united in their belief in the countrys children and by their personal commitment to establish a model for private secondary education in communities with scarce resources. Our goal is to attend to the total development of our students: body mind and soul. The school will be non-sectarian and we will stress the importance of giving back to the community as well as developing capacities to succeed even in a place like Malawi these days. There are limitless hardships for Malawian students. But we will not compromise on academics. Those admitted to the school will have demonstrated academic excellence. We know that there are many students who have overcome very poor circumstances or who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS and have still excelled in school. This is the group we are trying to reach. Recognizing the crushing poverty around us we will develop a scholarship program for those children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS or otherwise have no financial means of attending school. Those who can afford to pay will pay. For additional revenue slots will be open for students from neighboring countries like Tanzania Mozambique Zimbabwe and Zambia. We had done the easy part: identifying a need and developing a plan to address that need. Now the hard part began to raise the money. Building a school from scratch is expensive even in a place where some things are cheaper like Africa. It will be a private boarding school. Our plan is to get the infrastructure in place and then be able to fully support the on-going annual running costs by charging tuition and building an endowment for scholarships. It will be difficult and it will take time but with a realistic plan we hope to be able to attract the donors we need to develop a long-term plan for sustainability. Weve gotten off to a good start in one of those serendipitous ways that Id like to think happens when you really believe in something. Over two years ago a friend introduced me to a lawyer who lives in Arizona. This lawyer had a particular interest in Malawi and was looking for ways to contribute to its development. We made contact stayed in touch and then this lawyer told me he was actually going to Malawi and wanted to see the site of the new school. I made some quick plans and traveled to Malawi where I could personally show him the site and explain our vision. The meeting went better than I ever could have expected. He was sufficiently inspired to make a pledge on the spot: $250 000!!! He has since then contributed to Mzuzu Academy a total of $300 000. On our own we have raised another $50 000. As of September 2007 we have built sixteen classrooms and the construction of a 300 student boarding facility and administration block will follow. With a capital budget of $2.5 million we will need to raise about $800 000 more in order to build the necessary infrastructure to accommodate Mzuzus first class ideally in September 2008. We will gratefully take contributions from anyone who is in a position to do so. We are a registered 501(c)(3) organization in the U.S. and as a public trust in Malawi. Therefore contributions are fully tax-deductible. Interested donors can go to our website at www.mzuzuacademy.org.