MADONNA MISSION TO MALAWI
by Bright Molande

Unreserved love and motherly care, that is what the word ‘Madonna’ has come to mean since Leonardo da Vinci painted Mary the mother of Jesus in fine and colour. The image of Madonna is always associated with motherly love for children and the world. Madonna has become a symbol.
But Madonna the celebrated musician is different, you may think. Perhaps, wrong. Whatever the celebrity’s controversies, the musician loves children. She adopted David Phiri from Malawi, not that Madonna thinks too poorly of Malawians that they could not raise the orphan. But Madonna is making a statement to the world, “We care for others at least as much as we care for ourselves,” she has recently said in her mission to Malawi. In her letter to the world posted through her website, she says, “After witnessing the potential of Malawi's girls firsthand, I made it my mission to give them an opportunity to become their personal best.” Now she has set out to build what will be probably the best school for the African girl child in Malawi. The Madonna founded project is called “Raising Malawi Academy for Girls.” “Raising Malawi Academy for Girls is founded upon the belief that empowering a small group of exceptional individuals can ignite a positive change for a whole nation, and indeed for the entire world,” Madonna writes. Her spirit is that of striving “to transform the African nation of Malawi through the education and empowerment of its young women,” and that is the core of her mission. Known for their hard work, politeness, peace and smiles, Malawians themselves respect women – even amidst a militating patriarchal culture and gender-based violence. They celebrate Mother’s Day once a year to remember the love of our mothers. It is now common to hear them loudly believing, “Teach a woman, and you have taught the nation” because they believe that the woman is the heart of the home and the nation. This is what poverty and relics of some traditional beliefs want to defeat. There remain many girls, particularly among the low income rural Malawians who are denied the opportunity to become the best of themselves. It is that setback that Madonna is fighting to conquer. In her very quieter life away from the hubbub and glittering colour of the stage life, and perhaps in her deep contrition, Madonna holds “near and dear” the values of human integrity and the binds of communal life. Behind that stage Madonna, there is the human Madonna who agrees with the African philosophy of life. That is why, she says, her mission is “founded on the spirit of Umunthu”. Yes, in Chichewa the vernacular of Malawi “Umunthu means "I am because we are".

It has been in their valued wisdom for ages for the people of Malawi to believe that “It is human intercourse that makes us human, he who is solitary is a beast”. That is precisely what one of their proverbs, in their language (Ali awiri ndi anthu, kalikokha nkanyama). But the individual is the nucleus of the Umunthu philosophy, and Madonna’s “Academy is dedicated to inspiring

within each student a sense of global and individual responsibility.” In its full mission, the Raising Malawi academy envisions character and intellectual sharpening of the girl at the very heart, nucleus and engine of Malawi’s society and progress. The Academy is set to provide girls with the means “to realize the full range of their intellectual, spiritual, creative, and human potential; to act as examples of girls' empowerment and gender equity; to foster Malawian cultural pride and responsibility; to provide innovative opportunities for sustainability; and to raise the nation of Malawi and its people to abundance and lasting health.” This is where fame, name and money has brought Mother Madonna – Malawi. Perhaps she too shares the global confidence that Malawi is not just where every dollar counts, but now a place where every dollar is a seed that bears fruit with the present sound economic management. But this mission is far beyond fame, name and money because it takes your heart too. And that is the integrity of it. It is upon this noble mission that Madonna has called all her friends to partake. The celebrated mother and musician invites all those of goodwill and with Africa at heart to http://www.raisingmalawi.org/rm_girlsacademy.php where “every dollar makes a difference,” she says. Mother of David the Malawian child, Madonna speaks in a manner that reminds one of Jesus the son of Virgin Mary who said “It is better to give than to receive.” Now Madonna believes, “by giving our best, we become our best.”