Aids orphans serenade Madonna
2006-10-06 08:44
Thyolo, Malawi - Madonna found herself in the audience on Thursday when the Aids orphans of Malawi performed a private concert for the visiting "Queen of Pop".
The US diva, who jetted into Malawi to inspect projects for children to which she has donated $5m, was serenaded during a visit to the 128 residents of an orphanage outside the economic capital Blantyre.
Very much the star in an all-black ensemble with a zebra-stripe top, knee-high boots and dark glasses, she entered the centre under tight security. Reporters were not allowed to cover her visit.
The orphans welcomed the former "Material Girl", who was accompanied by her British filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie, with spiritual songs and the national anthem, the head of the orphanage said.
"She was happy to listen to our children sing," Annie Chikhwaza, founder and director of the centre, told reporters later.
Chikhwaza called Madonna, whose current avatar is linked to Kabbalah or the study of Jewish mysticism, a "wonderful lady and down to earth lovely person."
But Chikhwaza stressed that her orphanage had not received any funds from the pop star.
"Madonna has never given any finances to us at all .... We rely on gifts and donations," she said.
Madonna also distributed 28 copies of her children's book The English Roses which had been translated into Malawi's main language Chichewa under the title of Flowers and Roses.
The star's trip, which began on Wednesday, has clouded in secrecy with no itinerary published as Malawian authorities say she wants to keep it private.
Confusion over adoption
There is also some confusion about the possible plans of the mother-of-two to adopt an African Aids orphan.
"All indications are that she is looking for a boy and she will have to go and look around," Andrina Mchiela, principal secretary in Malawi's women and gender affairs ministry told AFP on Wednesday.
Mchiela added: "Madonna wants complete privacy on the adoption process... and we will need to respect that."
But the singer's publicist dismissed adoption reports swirling around the star as "completely inaccurate."
"She has not adopted a child," Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg said in a statement emailed to AFP.
"She went on a private visit to Malawi to participate in the building of an orphanage and several other initiatives that are all under the auspices of an organization called Raising Malawi."
The singer and actress is scheduled to meet a senior minister, Chimunthu Banda, for talks on Friday in the administrative capital Lilongwe.
In an interview with Time magazine in August, Madonna explained her new socially conscious persona.
"Now that I have children and now that I have what I consider to be a better perspective on life, I have felt responsible for the children of the world," Madonna has said.
"I've been doing bits and bobs about it and I suppose I was looking for a big, big project I could sink my teeth into," she said, referring to the project in Malawi.