Madonna adopts young boy in AIDS-ravaged Malawi
Thursday October 05 2006
Andrina Mchiela, a top official in the Ministry for Gender and Child Welfare, said the world famous pop star planned to launch six projects to help underprivileged children during her stay.
She also said Madonna and her husband, director Guy Ritchie, were seeking to adopt a Malawian child.
Benston Kilimbe, director of the social welfare department, said Madonna was expected to file the adoption papers today.
"According to Malawi laws, she is expected to stay with the child for 18 months for child welfare officials to assess the suitability of the family before we finalise adoption papers," Mchiela said.
But because Madonna was unable to stay in the country that long, Mchiela said, the boy would be taken care of in the interim by the Network of Organisations for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children, which will be set up by Madonna during her stay.
Madonna and Ritchie have a son, Rocco (5) and the singer also has a daughter, Lourdes (9).
Madonna and an entourage of some 10 people landed on a private plane in the capital Lilongwe yesterday morning. There had been no prior announcement.
Malawi is among the poorest countries in the world, trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of hunger and disease.
HIV/AIDS infects just over 14pc of the 12 million population - most of them economically active adults - and has left an estimated 1 million children orphaned.
In villages like Mphandula, many orphaned children are cared for either by siblings or grandparents, who struggle to find food for the extended family.
Madonna unveiled her plans for Malawi in an interview in August. She said she wants to raise at least £1.5m (€2.2m) for programmes to support AIDS orphans.
Madonna joins a growing list of entertainer-activists who have focused on Africa. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, whose child was born in Namibia earlier this year, recently announced they would donate £500,000 each to two humanitarian groups on the continent.
Actor and director George Clooney has campaigned passionately for the victims of the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Madonna has teamed up with developing-world economic expert Jeffrey Sachs on programmes in Malawi, and she's met with former US President Bill Clinton about bringing low-cost medicines to the country.
- Sarah Weitzman
