Madonna’s star power in Malawi
Eliza Manyoza, a banana vendor in Malawi’s colonial-era capital Zomba, says she has never heard a Madonna song. She only knows the American pop icon as an “adopter” of orphaned children.
“I am told she is a nice woman who wants to help our children,” Manyoza, 39, told AFP, with her nine-month-old baby strapped at her back and balancing a basket of bananas on her head.
She knew that Madonna had adopted David Banda, a toddler the star met at an orphanage three years ago, but had just learned of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal’s decision to grant her a second adoption of a girl named Chifundo “Mercy” James, who let Malawi Friday to join the singer in London.
“That’s great news and very nice of her,” Manyoza said. “But how many children can she take out of Malawi? Where are the rich Malawians who should be adopting their own children and not leave it to Madonna?”
Her sentiments echo those heard around the country, where Madonna has sparked a global debate about the merits of international adoption.
Malawi is a particularly grim case study in the plight of orphans.
One of the poorest nations in the world, the government says 1.5 million children have been orphaned by AIDS — a figure that represents nearly 10 percent of the total population.
Manyoza lives in the slums of Chikanda, a shantytown on the edge of this British colonial town, where 12 orphanages have opened — many in just the last two years.
Hundreds more are spread across Malawi, a country the size of New York state.
“We have reached a crisis point and Malawi does not have the resources to deal with the problem,” said Cyrus Jeke, an official at the ministry of women and child development.
Madonna has established her own charity Raising Malawi, which has built a state-of-the-art hostel at Home of Hope in Mchinji — the orphanage where she first saw her adopted son David among the 500 children cared for there.
She has also built a day-care centre at Consol Home, a charity which looks after 10,000 orphans in scores of villages outside the administrative capital Lilongwe.
Rights activist Undule Mwakasungura laments the fact that a foreign celebrity had to step in to raise awareness about orphans.
“It’s the primary responsibility of the state to provide for orphaned children,” he said.
Government should use tax revenue to “care for these children instead of abandoning them to the wishes and devises of celebrities,” said Mwakasungura, who chairs the Human Rights Consultative Committee — a network of 85 local rights groups.
Boniface Mandere, an official of the nation’s leading child rights body Eye of the Child, said Malawi has financial resources to help vulnerable children.
“What we lack is wisdom of how to use those resources. It’s about commitment. We need to pump more resources to social services,” he said.
Plan Malawi, an international charity focussing on children, applauded Madonna’s good intentions, but urged her to do more to lobby governments and businesses to strengthen community structures on the ground, Plan adds.
“The challenges facing our orphans and other vulnerable children can be handled with a strong social protection structure,” said Mcdonald Mumba, Plan’s children’s rights advisor.
Such questions about why the government has not done more to care for the nation’s children reverberate through the country, casting a particularly harsh light on the political classes and the wealthy.
“It all shows Madonna saw that the question of orphans is a serious issue which needs addressing,” Manyoza said.
“But where are the rich Malawians? Where are the rich politicians? Where is the government? Madonna will not manage alone even though she has a lot of money.”–AFP
Tagged with: Chifundo' Mercy' James, David Banda, Madonna, Malawi Supre Curt of Appeal, Raising Malawi
Like I have said again and again, I am not against Madonna’s adoption of our orphaned children but am very sceptical to the motive, It would appear its her plight ahead of that of the orphan. She is baby shopping, landing them as trophies to satisfy her celebacy appetite. Celebrities are in a competition to outwin each other as to who own many third world orphans, I hope am wrong but if am not, shame. It appears some people are above the law after all, money is power indeed. To Malawi, land of smiling faces, how long are we gonna settle for a short term plan for our orphans???? Isn’t it time yet for long term plans??? I am bothered.
Msiska,
You are wrong and let the people of good will get their way.How many celebrities have adopted kids in Malawi or anywhere else it`s her passion and let us not bring our earthly pride into this.
Zephah,
Thanks for your comment on my comment but Do you follow celebrity adoptions at all? Do you follow Brangellina, Brad and Angellina Pitt’s adoption? Do your homework, Am only commenting on what I know. I am doing a study on them. Respect.
Wonder,
Ukapanda manu usamaswa phale.
“Celebrities are in a competition to outwin each other as to who own many third world orphans, I hope am wrong but if am not, shame”
she might have a bad motive but blv me she z doin de right thing! I think its gonna help u if u take it from a consequentialistic point of view! she gains her popularity YESS! But orphans get helped too…
100% i agree with you Manyoza. You have just asked the very same questions i do ask myself.
This nation needs wonderful people like you. Just to answer your question about rich people here in malawi, is that these so called rich malawians, don’t mind or care about these orphans. They only care about their money, families and businesses. All of them to hell before long. Shame on them.
Most well to do people in Malawi ‘adopt’! Ask any Malawian who does not know of anyone is paying school fees for his great nephews and niecies! Clothing and feeding whole villages sometimes. Our system is different from the one they have in the west but do not get fooled: I know for certain that behind every rich or well off Malawian there is a long, very long list of dependents! The problem is that if the person who is the backbone chain dies of or is in a financial turmoil, the whole system crumbles! The AIDS pandemic has just made matters worse and that’s why well wishers like Madonna are welcome.Thank you Madonna. Ndatha ine chidzukulu cha a Nzumwa.
Do you really understand the meaning of the word, adoption?
Do you mean paying school fees for nieces and nephews is adoption? Is giving away clothes and feeding whole village sometimes, adoption?
I like the way you involve yourself in these articles and the way you use your fingers on the keyboard, but i think, it could be better for you, to take your exercise books and go back to school, because you missed very importand thing, that is, an understanding. That would be great my dear.
Chikhamu,let us not get emotional here. I know for sure that everything that I wrote concerning my alternative view on ‘adoption’, is TRUE. You probaly know the legal definintion of adoption but I strongly DOUBT if you take into consideration other social aspects of adoption. In my dictionary, if I take care of my late sister’s children and accord them all the privileges that belong to my natural children..I have adopted them.
So I insist again and again that Malawians adopt only that the burden is huge because of the reasons I said in my earlier posting. So, thanks Madonna. I may be wrong,but then am only human and entitled to my own views.
Did I misunderstand you again sir/madam?.Mwinadi ndipitedi ku sukulu ngati inu!
I for one feel that as a nation we have failed ourselves in many ways for a long period of time. I wonder, whether it is ignorance, poor planning, or wrong and dying cultural values. Growing up in a village in the deep south there were children who had no parents. They were cared for by relatives & everyone in the village from the young to the old- I guess everybody did their best to provide a caring environment- but nobody in that village could be described as rich. So caring for the orphans is not a question of being rich- but how accommodating people are to the plight of those who are somehow worse off. Today HIV/AIDS has just worsened the crisis. Somehow I feel the NGOs have made the problem of orphans worse- by giving hope that out there children can be cared for by non-kin. Tell me what good do the NGOs like the one headed by Undule are doing- other than unhelpful noise while the bosses like himself are getting rich by appropriating money from unsuspecting (if not colluding with) donors. Our challenge is that NGOs spend lots of money on cars and allowances- not delivering the services. People want Madonna and the rich others to send more money for orphans so that they can line their pockets, build better houses in Mzuzu, lilongwe and Blantyre. who should be blamed here? If giving to orphanages is self-less, adopting one is more than self-less. Let’s not blame the govt- as if the govt has solutions to all our problems. How much tax does the govt collect- with the majority not paying income tax. Lets also blame ourselves for risking life & also ignoring sound advice about family planning. To be rich should not be a curse or license for relatives to have more children expecting that the rich relative will take care of them.
well done Madonna, hope more Malawians must be proud of u. Abroad like UK if u tell people that u come from Malawi could think is a district in Zimbabwe and could ask u ‘are from Mugabe or Nigeria?’ but now it seems most people know malawi since madonna linked with adoption.
The bottom line is we must change our lives look at the shocking figures of orphans in malawi we are taltking of 10.000 rophans in one place only part of lilongwe what about the rest?
We should be ashamed of ourselves that we are blocking Madona fair enough she is a foreign woman ,tough, BUT what have we Malawians done to support our own orphanage centres? Its not about adopting alone. How many maize farmers do we have in Malawi and how many have donated even just a bag of 50kg maize to feed these orphans? The issue is not about adopting but its about streatching our hands to reach the needy. Anyone who has never helped these orphans in any way from today onwards instead of giving out stupit comments look at your self first and think” WHAT HELP HAVE I GIVEN TO THE ORPHANS?” If the answer is no just shut up and ukagwere ok stretch your hand first osamangotsutsa ngati wotsutsa boma yet u are eating nsima kukhuta and that orphan is hungry.
The way i know the well to do people in Malawi kwao is to eat kanyenya pa bottlestore washing down ndi chi petroda ndikumayankhula zizungu zao zophochokaphochoka than kupelekako ka donation kochepa kwa ana ovutika.Nawonso ma politicians athu akaona ndalama mitu yawo imazunguzika kwambiri.We need to revamp the whole system in malawi in every sector.There is no vision in Malawi that’s why the only thing timatchuka nazo mu diaspora kuti dziko laumphawi ndi matenda a HIV, koma Malawi has many natural resources to get to greater heights if it can have leaders with vision and teaching every malawian the importance of hardworking.China ndi ulesi Amalawi azanga ndiumene wanyanya and we expect kuti zinthu zizasintha zokha out of dreams without doing something….forget no ways!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well done Madonna wapepusako mavuto ana ovutika athuwa.