Orphans & Vulnerable Children Bursary Fund

Dear Friend,

In 2009, Maru-a-Pula has 28 orphans attending the school on full scholarships through the Maru-a-Pula Orphan Scholarship Fund. This has been made possible by the generous gifts of individual donors. Our goal is to reach 60 orphan scholars by 2010.

Maru-a-Pula is trying to respond to one of Africa’s greatest challenges: the fact that one in six children in sub-Saharan Africa is an orphan; in Botswana, it’s one in five.

Is this Africa’s greatest tragedy? Or is this Africa’s greatest opportunity? I see it as Africa’s greatest opportunity. Why? Because when you see Africa’s orphans—those with the fewest advantages in life—being given a fine education, there is cause for hope. We believe that students who have suffered the most profound deprivation will emerge as the most passionate advocates of change.

A fundamental measure of the greatness of a nation, or of a school, is how it treats those who are the most vulnerable. In short, Africa needs leaders whose voices are both informed by a rigorous education and tempered by personal experience.

Once orphan scholars are in the classroom, their very presence changes the understanding of their classmates. It makes more privileged students aware, as so few students at world-class schools are, of the most fundamental social challenges facing their communities.

Every year Maru-a-Pula faces the painful task of turning away academically able students because their parents cannot afford the school's tuition. This is deeply unfortunate. But when the child we turn away is an orphan it is unconscionable.

I am asking you to invest in Maru-a-Pula's tradition of leadership and service.

The need to enroll orphan scholars in 2009 and beyond is urgent and immediate. Your gift will mean so much -- to an individual child, to a nation and to a continent facing its greatest challenge.


Yours Truly,

Andrew Taylor 


Principal, Maru-a-Pula School
principal.map@gmail.com

Please consider making a gift of:

$253 (one week's tuition) 

$1014 (one month) 

$2029 (two months)
$3044 (trimester)
$9133 (year)

The cost to educate one child per year is $9,133, an amount that includes the cost of tuition, room and board. But Maru-a-Pula does not stop there: we spend an additional $2000 per student to cover the cost of uniforms, clothing, books, toiletries, allowance, miscellaneous fees and medical insurance. This year, we have committed to spending $311,724 to support 28 orphans and vulnerable children. We seek to double this number by 2010.

No gift is too small to provide the gift of education... and the gift of hope. Please support the Orphans & Vulnerable Children Bursary Fund. You can donate via credit car through our secure partner, Network for Good:  

Or send your contribution to the following address: (Please make out check to AFMAP for a tax-deductible gift.)

N.A. Jackson, Treasurer 

American Friends of the Maru-a-Pula School (AFMAP) 

83 Clubhouse Road 

Tuxedo Park, NY 10987

Please include with your gift your: 


Name 

Street Address 

City, State, Zip Code

Email

Please indicate (yes/no) whether you are interested in learning more about the Maru-a-Pula Orphan Scholarship Fund.

Please know that we are profoundly grateful for your generous support.