The award-winning Maru-a-Pula School Marimba Band will be playing a series of concerts to raise funds for AIDS Orphan Scholarships. Located in Gabarone, Botswana, Maru-a-Pula consistently ranks as one of the top schools in all of Africa and regularly sends its students to universities across the US and UK. Many of Botswana’s leaders—ministers, businesswomen, doctors—are all graduates of Maru-a-Pula.

But Maru-a-Pula is in a troubled country: Botswana has one of the highest AIDS rates in the world and currently has more than 30,000 AIDS orphans. In 2005, Maru-a-Pula started funding 2 orphans scholarships, recognizing that many more future leaders were in this population of orphans if only they had the opportunity for a world-class education. The school is now funding 20 full orphan scholarships, and is hoping to raise the money to fund 60 full scholarships by 2010.

Despite the urgency of its cause, this event will be a celebration of music and cultural exchange, raising awareness of a continent's struggles while looking to a future of hope and prosperity. The ten-piece marimba band will be joined by Maru-a-Pula's drama ensemble who will perform an original production about the complex social impact of AIDS in Botswana.

Admission includes open bar, hors d'oeuvres.

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