Former Mountain View fire Chief Robert Burns couldn’t sleep through the night in Malawi.
“I kept getting awakened at two in the morning, wondering, ‘What’s that chop-chop-chop?'” said Robert. “It was women in the field, working.”
Robert and his wife Mary recently spent three weeks in Manyesa, Malawi, a village they have been helping through philanthropic efforts for two years.
Their mission began in 2006, when they attended a benefit at a church in El Cerrito. The event organizer spoke to the audience about the impoverished conditions of his alma mater, the Kasimu Grammar School in Manyesa. A generous scholarship from a French family had enabled him to continue his education, he said, but most children in the school have little hope of such an opportunity.
“When we heard the story we felt like we had to help,” Mary in 2007.
Early that year, the husband-and-wife team founded the Kasimu Education Fund, or KEF, a nonprofit organization supporting Kasimu Grammar School. This summer they decided to see how the efforts were coming, and made their first trip to the southeast African country, meeting with ministry officials and villagers.
“The people were extremely generous,” said Mary. “They’re the most joyful, beautiful people.”
The Burnses arrived to a tumultuous crowd of roughly 150 villagers, who sang and danced as they surrounded the couple’s car. “They were singing, ‘They have arrived! They have arrived!'” said Robert. “It was impressive. It was humbling.”
“I was overwhelmed,” Mary said. “They just couldn’t stop laughing and singing and shaking our hands. Everywhere we went, they followed us.”
Though most villagers go to bed hungry every night, they continually showed up to the Burns’ house with goats, chickens and other gifts. Starvation is an overwhelming problem in the area, Robert said, particularly with the onset of global warming interfering with their food production cycle.
KEF has helped fund fertilizer programs for farmers in order to combat the food shortage problem. It has also started a micro-loan program, which will help create 35 small businesses in the area, and is currently planning the installation of a solar/wind generator to provide electricity and running water.
KEF also is working with One Dollar for Life, a student-based group at Los Altos High School, to build a high school to complement Kasimu Grammar School, which currently enrolls about 1,100 students from eight villages. KEF has raised funds to provide students with a daily meal, scholarships, new classrooms, books, uniforms and teacher training.
“They have a great respect for education,” said Mary. For them, “It’s a privilege to go to school — this is something they love.”
Although KEF provides funding, its main goal is to help the villagers become self-sufficient. “When we walk away, they can look at what happened and say, ‘We did these things for ourselves,” said Robert. By building infrastructure in the area, KEF hopes to reach that point in 10 years’ time.
“They’re very poor, and they need food, and they definitely want to be educated,” said Mary. “But for poor people, they’re very joyful. They have something very special: their happiness, their joyousness, that’s something I hope they don’t lose.”
Those interested in donating to KEF may contact the Burnses at (650) 968-0723 or write to them at 1667 Springer Road, Mountain View, CA 94040.
E-mail Kelly Truong at ktruong@mv-voice.com
