School Of 'Hope' To Be Built In Africa

BOSTON -- In Spanish, Esperanza means hope. It's also the name of a tuition-free school for girls in Lawrence --a school devoted to excellence and opportunity.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported Thursday that much of the success of Esperanza Academy is due to the financial support of real estate developer Tom Maher. Now, Maher is taking that message of hope to Africa.

At the Esperanza School in Lawrence, girls from underprivileged families are getting a tuition-free, first-rate education.

"The desire for education is unbelievable. The need is intense," Maher said.

Maher, a major force in starting Esperanza, already has the plans and the land to build what is being called the Beverly School in a poorer place -- Africa.

"It wasn't until I went to Kenya that I was convinced that this was the right thing. Going into a classroom of third-graders with 77 kids in the class, seven kids to a desk, one book for four or five children, and you could hear a pin drop," Maher said.

"He went and visited these tough areas in which the poverty level is just amazing," said Abdi Lidonde, who works at Holy Cross College, but said his heart is in his native Kenya.

Lidonde and Alice Mudiri told Maher the heart wrenching stories, such as the one about 13-year-old Hillary, who quit school to take care of a younger brother. Their parents died of AIDS.

AIDS is why half the 150 students the school will enroll are orphans who will live there year round.

"The need there is off the charts. When you look in the eyes of a 10-year-old that hasn't had food, lost his parents, you feel compelled to do something," Maher said.

Mudiri is giving up her teaching job in Worcester to return to her native Kenya to run the school.

"I think it is a moral question, too. We feel obligated to do this because if we don't do it, who will do it?" Mudiri said.

Maher said the school in Kenya will cost $2 million. A good chunk of the price will coming out of his own pocket, and the rest from grants and fundraisers, which he said he has no doubt will be successful.