Madonna Jetted into Malawi
By Sifelani Tsiko
Harare,Zimbabwe (Oct 5 2006)
LEAVING aside the glamour and material world of music fame, American pop diva Madonna jetted into Malawi this week on a humanitarian mission to help Aids orphans and to adopt a child.
While in this central southern African country, Madonna is expected to travel to Mphandula, a village about 50km away from Lilongwe, the capital, where she plans to set up an education and feeding centre for HIV and Aids orphans.
Madonna and her 10-member delegation landed on a private plane quietly without prior announcement.
The 'Material Girl' first made public her plans to visit Malawi in an interview with the Time magazine in August.
In this interview, she said she hoped to raise US$3 million for programmes to support Aids orphans. During her stay in Malawi, Madonna will launch six projects to help underprivileged children.
Malawi with a population of about 13 million people has an estimated 1 million children who have lost at least one parent largely due to the ravaging HIV and Aids pandemic.
This central southern African country is among the poorest countries in the world and drought, the HIV/Aids pandemic and poverty have stalled development for years.
The traditional African extended family system is collapsing and in most villages, many orphaned children are being cared for either their slightly older siblings or grandparents. Food, clothing and shelter are a challenge to the carers.
Madonna has put Malawi on the spotlight adding to the humanitarian goodness flagged by singer Bono who held a concert to raise funds for a charitable cause in East Africa and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie who recently donated $300,000 to Namibia to help impoverished babies.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's whose child was born in Namibia early this year unveiled plans to donate US$1 million each to two humanitarian organisations active in Africa.
In another good cause, actor and director George Clooney is campaigning passionately for the Darfur victims of war in the Sudan complementing the former US president Bill Clinton's campaign to bring low cost drugs to Malawi's poor.
Most of the poor in Malawi have not heard much about Madonna, but this has not stopped the pop superstar from embarking on her humanitarian mission.
Poverty in many African countries is real and the world should applaud the stars for their tangible action to tackle poverty despite facing criticism.
Critics in the West say Madonna's visit to Malawi is 'little more than a publicity stunt by one of the world's best self-promoters.'
Others say the fact that orphans at the centre will be taught a curriculum based on 'Spirituality for Kids', linked to the Kabbalah school of mysticism to which Madonna is a follower, has added to the cynicism.
In Malawi, people say they don't 'eat criticism and all the cynicism' of people who are well off but welcomed the American pop star's visit saying it makes a difference to the lives of the orphans.
"Poverty in Malawi is real, there are no doubts about it," says Weston Kamupanji, of Blantyre, the commercial capital. "People welcome any help they can get as long as it can make a difference in the lives of our people."
"Let critics bark and after that ask them, what are you yourself doing to assist the poor.' You will be surprised that they don't have an answer to this. So let those who can assist the poor do so."
Whether or not Madonna, who was recently awarded a Guiness World Record for being the highest paid female singer (made US$50 million in 2004) is seeking to reinvent herself as humanitarian or is seeking to show her vague interest in humanitarian goodness, the visit to Malawi and her contribution to the lives of the orphans certainly reflects her humanitarian goodness and normality.
For a while, never mind all the controversies surrounding her stage image. Zero in on the good side which is transforming the lives of the underprivileged children in Malawi.
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Madonna is one of most famous celebrities, who has done and still does something to help improve the lives of others. This media text supports Madonna as a celebrity with humanitarian mind, which is explained through Madonna jetting into Malawi on a humanitarian mission to help Aids orphans and to adopt a child.
The preferred reading of this media text is that Madonna is helping to improve the lives of orphans in Malawi, which shows her as philanthropist.
The oppositional reading of this text is that Madonna is trying to erase her bad-girl reputation, by adopting a child and by helping with the Aids problem in Malawi.
This article affect the image of Madonna as a respected celebrity for her philanthropic work, but on the other hand, the article affect her image as a self-promoter who uses humanitarian mission to increase her fame and popularity.
I believe that Madonna is not a self-promoter, but a very respectful celebrity who truly likes to help improve the lives of others, even if she is doing the work also to overcome her bad-girl reputation. Like the article states, poverty is real, and whoever help and makes the difference is always respected. I agree with this statement, and that Madonna, either she is helping others because it's in her nature to do so or just to promote herself, is helping the world to become a better place for everyone much more than critics who just criticizes celebrities and does not do anything to assist the poor.
Madonna's also been lauded by those in the humanitarian community for bringing the plight of AIDS orphans to the global stage and raising money to help them.
