A Village of Hope

In the African nation of Malawi, families toil in fields as malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases go untreated. But hope is within reach: The Millennium Promise, a philanthropy run by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs and supported by Angelina Jolie, is working with 60 villages (so far) to make them healthily self-sufficient through such simple tools as schools, seeds and clean drinking water. Here is what PEOPLE reporter Mary Green saw in the village of Mwandana.

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LOVE'S LABOR

Working her calloused hands for 12 to 13 hours a day, Cecilia (left) has been supporting her family since her husband's AIDS-related death in 2003. "It was difficult for me to keep going on," says Mkhota, who has a 1-acre maize farm. "But I wanted the family to keep going." Her village, Mwandana, is benefiting from Millennium Promise shipments of fertilizer and seed.