Madonna in Malawi for charity, talks with president

BLANTYRE, Malawi

U.S. pop diva Madonna has returned to Malawi with the stated aim of visiting children and holding talks with President Peter Mutharika about her charity work in the southern African country.

Madonna started her trip by visiting the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in the commercial city of Blantyre, where she announced the establishment of a new pediatric surgery and intensive care unit.

"Madonna is in Blantyre today to launch a new project in cooperation with the Ministry of Health to construct a pediatric surgery and intensive care unit," Sarah Ezzy, director of "Raising Malawi," a non-profit charity organization co-founded by Madonna in 2006, told the press at the hospital in Blantyre.

Ezzy said the charity would build and donate the two-story facility and collaborate with the Ministry of Health to help support the unit's initial operations.

"The new facility will double the number of surgeries for children performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and will provide the first dedicated pediatric intensive care unit in the country," she added.

She said the project represented an expansion of the charity's work at Queen Elizabeth since 2008 with Eric Borgstein, one of only three pediatric surgeons working in Malawi.

The partnership with Madonna's charity organization has helped Borgstein develop a pediatric surgical training program under the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa.

"Construction of the pediatric surgery and intensive care unit is expected to start in February 2015," said Ezzy.

New relations

Madonna and her son, Roco John Ritchie, were accompanied on the visit by her two adopted Malawian children, David Banda and Mercy Chifundo James.

She is expected to meet President Mutharika on Friday in capital Lilongwe, according to presidential press secretary Fredrick Ndala.

"We welcome Madonna in this country. She will meet the president on Friday," Ndala told The Anadolu Agency, adding that she was also expected to meet Health Ministry officials.

During her last visit last year, Madonna was embarrassed at the airport after her VIP status was revoked following a rift with then-president Joyce Banda.

She was unceremoniously sent packing because of the dispute with Banda and the latter's sister, Anjimile Oponyo, who was then principal secretary in the Education Ministry and who had previously worked for Madonna's "Raising Malawi" girls' academy project.

At the time, Banda had called Madonna "a bully" and "arrogant," slamming the pop star for "making poor people dance for her."

But on her return on Wednesday, Madonna received a warm reception at the airport, according to airport sources.

Media reports in Malawi suggest that Madonna has had her VIP status restored by President Peter Mutharika, who defeated Banda in May 20 elections.

Madonna's "Raising Malawi" charity supports orphanages in the country. The singer also had plans to build a girls' academy, but the project was shelved after last year's disagreement.

The world-famous diva, however, is still helping build classrooms in schools across Malawi.

"She seems to have found warmth and a new friend in President Mutharika," Jack McBrams, arts and entertainment editor at Malawi's The Nation newspaper, told AA.

"Let's not forget, Madonna had a good working relationship with Mutharika's brother, former president Bingu wa Mutharika, who allowed her to adopt two [Malawian] children despite strong opposition from Malawian civil society," said McBrams.

While David's adoption went smoothly, a judge had initially rejected Madonna's adoption of Mercy on the grounds that the pop star had not lived continuously in Malawi for two years prior to the move, as is required under Malawian law.

Malawi's Supreme Court nevertheless approved the adoption, describing the 1949 law as "archaic."

In her statement to the court at the time, Madonna had promised to bring her two adopted children back to Malawi twice "every two or three years."

Madonna's relations with Malawi date back to 2006, when she adopted David.                         

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