Go-ahead formadonna’s schools
Nearly six years after it was created, Madonna’s Raising Malawi charity is set to break ground on the construction of schools in the impoverished country, but they will be run by the local community, not the superstar’s organisation.
According to organisers, work on the first school will start on March 30 in the Kasungu area, about 130 kilometres from the capital of Lilongwe, and all of the schools should be built by June 2013.
Raising Malawi is providing US$300,000 (NZ$363,000) to the non-governmental organisation buildon to develop the schools. They will serve about 1000 boys and girls in the southern African nation.
‘‘This remains a very big priority in my life and I am excited that with the help of buildon we can maintain our commitment to move forward efficiently,’’ Madonna said.
Raising Malawi had originally intended to build all-girls schools that the organisation would run. But it faced several obstacles, including complaints from some local farmers that they had been moved off land. Raising Malawi also had difficulty getting titles to the land and there were concerns about the high construction costs.
The new plan calls for ‘‘simple structures’’ that will be more practical and better serve Raising Malawi’s original mission, said Trevor Neilson, who is helping to direct the project as partner of the Global Philanthropy Group. The approach will allow the programme to serve twice as many children as before, Madonna said.
‘‘I have learned a great deal over the past few years and feel so much more confident we can reach our goals to educate children in Malawi, especially young girls, in a much more efficient and practical way,’’ she said. Madonna has adopted two children from Malawi.
‘‘For schools to be successful, they need to have community ownership and leadership,’’ Mr Neilson said. ‘‘Raising Malawi shouldn’t be running schools in Malawi. Local communities in Malawi should be running those schools, so that’s a big part of the shift.’’
Buildon has been working in Malawi for almost 20 years, said spokeswoman Carrie Pena. It works closely with the community, and locals volunteer the labour to build the schools, according to Ms Pena. ‘‘It’s absolutely a community-owned school.’’
Mr Neilson praised Madonna for sticking with her plan to build schools for Malawi’s children despite several setbacks for the star, who is this year’s Super Bowl performer.
Madonna brought in Global Philanthropy to work with Raising Malawi more than a year ago and removed the involvement of the Kabbalah Centre. She has practised Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism.
‘‘When the previous management team had problems,a lot of people thought Madonna would give up,’’ Mr Neilson said. ‘‘It would have been understandable, but instead she’s going to be reaching twice as many kids.’’