Madonna to inspect Malawi children hospital she is building: Row with Mercy family rages on

Pop diva Madonna  is coming to Malawi  on Sunday July 10 to  inspect a 50-bed pediatrics ward at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in the commercial capital Blantyre, the first dedicated pediatric intensive care unit in the country that her charity organisation, Raising Malawi.

Sarah Ezzy, director of the charity Raising Malawi, said Madonna is building a two-storey free-standing 50-bed paediatric surgical ward which will also have an Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

“The new facility, which will be completed by the end of the year, will have three operating theatres for surgery in children, a 50 bed ward, a day clinic, and the country’s first ever paediatric intensive care unit,” Ezzy said.

Madonna first came to Malawi in 2006 when she adopted a then one-year-old David Banda at an orphanage in Mchinji andereturned in 2009 to adopt her second Malawian child, Mercy Chifundo James, at another orphanage.

But recently, Mercy’s Malawian family accuse the pop singer of broken promises of visitation rights and the child;s eventual return – something that Madonna has strongly denied.

‘Madonna may have been acting in good faith believing she was saving a child from poverty and death, as she may not have been told the whole truth. It is difficult to put into words the love Mercy’s Malawian family have for her.

“They love her so much and never intended to be permanently separated from her. For them it is a battle they will not stop fighting. Madonna needs to understand that as Mercy grows older and becomes aware of these things it may not be good for her and all parties concerned.,” UK’s Daily Mail newspaper recently quoted 25 year old  Agatha Molande the best friend of Mercy’s biological mother  Mwandida Chekechiwa.

Molande has warned that there will be stormy times ahead unless Madonna acts now.

But a spokesperson for the 57-year-old superstar said: ‘Mercy has never had her past or her heritage hidden from her and she visits Malawi every year to learn about her roots and to visit friends and family.

‘Inaccurate stories about Mercy’s adoption harm no one more than the child herself,’ they added.

The girl’s teenage mother Mwandida died eight days after Mercy was born in January 2005.

During her last visit to Malawi in November 2014, Madonna was appointed as Malawi’s Goodwill Ambassador for child welfare by President Peter Mutharika.

The pop star helps fund a number of charities — including orphanages, schools and medical facilities — in Malawi.

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