Women have the potential to achieve whatever they desire in life, provided they are educated. But we find young girls deprived off even this basic necessacity in underdeveloped countries. On her visit to Malawi, Madonna realized the importance of all the facilities she had enjoyed as a child and the happiness she had derived from it.
On meeting the young girls there, she felt the dire need for a proper institution where these girls could be educated so that they could serve their people and their nation in future. She wanted to give them opportunities; she had the faith that if given a chance they can become successful leaders, doctors, scientists and lawyers in future. She believed in them.
It was this belief in them that she decided to build an Academy for the underprivileged girls in Malawi. The foundation stone for ‘The Raising Malawi Academy for Girls,’ was laid down in a small ceremony attended by her children, including her adopted children, 4 year old David and Mercy aged 3 years. The Academy which will supposedly cost $15m, will take around 2 years to be completed.
She always wanted to do something for the underprivileged girls. In her words, “I realized how much they deserve to be educated and so for me the best thing I could do was to build a school, a unique school that will create future female leaders, scientists, lawyers and doctors. If this school is successful it will be used as a model to replicate it in other countries.”
By this charitable institution, she aims to provide free accommodation, education, food, clothes and all the basic essentials of life, to all the underprivileged children and orphans of Malawi. The school which is on the outskirts of Lilongwe, their capital, will accommodate 500 girls from the 28 districts of southern Africa.
The Head of the institution will be Anjimile Mtila Oponyo, an academician from Malawi.
Her trip included a meeting with President Bingu wa Mutharika, and a visit to the orphanages supported by her.