Madonna holds her adopted
son, David Banda, at an orphan care centre run by Raising Malawi, a
grassroots initiative by Madonna, in Mphendula Village, about 40 km
(25 miles) from the capital Lilongwe April 19,
2007.?
The Malawi government on Tuesday applauded
Madonna's efforts to put the plight of the country's AIDS orphans
on the global stage and raising money to support them.
The American singer said last week she would work with luxury
goods maker Gucci to raise at least $2 million for Malawi's one
million orphans.
Madonna and the Italian firm will host a fundraising event with
dinner, musical performance and a party on February 6 next year to
mark the opening of Gucci's largest store in the world, on New
York's Fifth Avenue.
"What she is doing for orphans of this country very few super
stars like her can do that, she has managed to put their plight on
the world stage," government spokesperson and Information Minister
Patricia Kaliati told Reuters.
"Madonna has built clinics in rural areas where government has
failed to reach and because of that she has saved many lives of
pregnant mothers who could have died," she said.
The pop star and her husband Guy Ritchie's bid to adopt David
Banda from Malawi has hit several snags since they took the
13-month-old boy from the African country last year to their home
in London.
The boy had been placed in an orphanage by his father after the
death of his mother. Madonna is due to return to Malawi next April
for a hearing before she can permanently adopt the child.
Madonna said the charity event would benefit UNICEF and the
charity she co-founded in 2006, Raising Malawi, which focuses on
trying to help Malawi's orphans, many of whose parents have died of
AIDS.
(Agencies via China Daily November 21, 2007)
