What does Andover have to do with North Kinangop, Kenya? Thanks to Tom Maher, a lot more than you might think.
Maher, who has lived in town since 1988, is vice president and treasurer of the board of directors for the Beverly School of Kenya, a boarding school 90 minutes Northwest of Nairobi that offers free tuition to underprivileged Kenyan children, many of them orphaned by AIDS.
The Beverly School will open its doors to students for the first time this summer. During the past year, Maher has been to Kenya several times, and has played a major role in creating a plan and finding donations for the school, which is entirely privately funded.
Several other local residents | Andover real estate agent Bill Buck, former director of Lazarus House Bridget Shaheen, and Andover resident Jim Gillis | are involved with supporting the school as well. Maher's wife, Nancy, has been doing the school's marketing and helping produce its monthly newsletter.
When Maher first met the school's founder, Abdi Lidonde, he knew the Beverly School was something he wanted to be a part of, he said.
"I think there's a lot of hope in Kenya. These people just need a chance, with education and training. ... It's a rich country in spirit, and people share what they have," said Maher. "All people want is just a chance to move ahead. A chance to read, a chance to move ahead. Education is critical to break the cycle of poverty."
There simply aren't enough schools in Kenya to handle its 1 million orphans, said Maher. The local school in North Kinangop has 75 students in a single third-grade class, he said, and you could hear a pin drop during lessons because they're all so eager to learn.
Lidonde, a Kenyan native, started making the plans in 2004 for the Beverly School, named after his late mother, Beverly Lidonde. Lidonde works in the physical plant of Holy Cross College, Maher's alma mater.
Maher first heard about the Beverly School by reading an article on Lidonde in the Holy Cross magazine. The two met for the first time over coffee in January 2007, and "we're like brothers now," said Maher.
"He came to the country 25 years ago with $20 in his pocket," said Maher of Lidonde. "How can you not support a guy that walked to school (growing up in Kenya) and was sometimes turned away because he couldn't pay the school fees. He's been working so hard and now is trying to give back to his country."
The Beverly School will be a boarding school for children from all over Kenya, and aims to educate an equal amount of girls and boys, half of whom will be orphans, said Maher. This summer, it will open with 75 students in kindergarten through sixth-grade; eventually the school will educate 300 children through the 12th grade.
The school purchased 12 acres, and is building $2.2 million of dorms, classrooms and a guest house for school donors and visitors. This fall, it drilled a well, an invaluable resource of fresh water, which prevents malaria and other diseases.
This is not the first time Maher has helped get a privately-funded school off the ground. He is on the board of directors at Esperanza Academy, a free tuition school for underprivileged girls in Lawrence that opened in September 2006. Tom and Nancy Maher have established scholarships for an Esperanza student to attend Pingree, a private school in Hamilton that their 15-year-old daughter, Colleen, attends, as well as Kimball Union Academy, the co-ed boarding school in Plainfield, N.H., which their son, Peter, 17, attends.
Seeing the dream of Esperanza come to life, said Maher, is inspiration for the Beverly School.
"I realize that schools like Esperanza and Beverly are possible. People said that Esperanza would never happen. People said that you'll never open a free tuition school for girls in Lawrence," said Maher. "Beverly will be similar to Esperanza, albeit 8,000 miles away."
Maher, who works in real estate development, said he is devoting 75 percent of his time to working on the Beverly School. Once Beverly is off the ground and running smoothly, he hopes to open more schools like it in Kenya, because the need is so great, he said.
Students at the Beverly School will learn more than classroom lessons, said Maher. The campus will house a farm, so people will have food to eat, and the students can learn farming skills.
"The farm land is gorgeous, like the Berkshires, on the edge of a mountain range," said Maher, who said the area is called the White Highlands of Kenya. "We're close to the equator, so we can grow crops three and four times a year."
They hope to eventually grow flowers to export, and rent the guest house to tourists | nearby safari attractions are popular | teaching the students about business.
The school will have a health staff so students that are HIV positive can be treated properly. The school will not base admissions on whether students are HIV positive, said Maher, but will test students, so they can be treated and educated properly about the disease.
The Beverly School will have no religious affiliation, but a "strong moral compass," said Maher.
"We want to represent all faiths, and there are a lot of different faiths in Kenya. They all peacefully coexist, they're very peaceful people. Even though there are different religions and tribal backgrounds, they're living together with no civil war," said Maher, who noted that every African country surrounding Kenya is at war.
The school's headmistress, Alice Midiri, is in place and teachers will soon follow so the school can open this summer, said Maher. Midiri is a childhood friend of Lidonde. She previously worked for the World Health Organization doing AIDS advocacy; she also taught at the Nativity School in Worcester.
The Beverly School of Kenya
r For information or to donate, visit www.beverlyschoolofkenya.com
The Beverly School's first students
On Maher's first trip to Kenya, in January 2007, he visited Kisumu, a Kenyan slum with Abdi Lidonde, the Beverly School's founder. Filled with mud huts with no running water or electricity, Kisumu is a slum bigger than Sohetto in South Africa, said Maher. It is home to a large number of AIDS orphans.
As he and Lidonde were walking around, Hillary Okumu, 13, kept following them. Hillary had dropped out of school to take care of his younger brother, Vincent, 10. Their parents had died of AIDS.
They were living in a three- by six-foot room, with a dirt floor, said Maher. Hillary was working as a cobbler | even though he didn't own any shoes of his own, ironically | to earn enough for him and his brother to live.
After that day, Maher arranged for Hillary and Vincent to stay with Lidonde's sister, who lives in Kenya. The Maher family is personally sponsoring them, covering their room, board and living expenses, so they can attend school.
When the Beverly School opens this summer, Hillary and Vincent Okumu will be the first two students enrolled.
Since he moved out of the slum, they have discovered that Hillary is artistic. He designed the Beverly School's Christmas card this year.
"With a little bit of love, attention and support, you can uncover kids' potential," said Maher.
Abdi Lidonde, left, of Sutton, Tom Maher and his wife Nancy work at the Andover home on putting together holiday cards for donors to the school they are opening in Kenya. The school, opening this summer, will have free tuition and primarily serve students who are AIDS orphans. Roger Darrigrand/(Click for larger image)
