Malawian Villagers Block Construction of Madonna Charity's School

November 06, 2009

Malawian Villagers Block Construction of Madonna Charity's School

Malawi is threatening to arrest villagers demanding higher compensation for land the government is leasing to Madonna’s Raising Malawi charity to build an academy for girls, reports Reuters.

Protesters in Chinkhota, about 10 miles from the capital of Lilongwe, are blocking construction of the planned school, saying the government has not provided enough money for them to relocate and farm elsewhere. Regional officials said Thursday they would call in police if they cannot reach an agreement with village representatives.

Madonna, who has adopted two children from Malawi, personally broke ground last month for the $15-million school, which is slated to be built in two years and enroll 500 girls from all over the small southern African country.

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Comments

I have been watching closely Madonna’s school project. I too started a nonprofit, LeapingStone, that is building schools on the continent of Africa. We are working in Togo.
I have to say I am envious of the amount of money going into her project. I have wondered if it is the wisest use of that much money. Our budget is a fraction of what she has to spend.
I wondered also, what model she was using. LeapingStone has spent time with the villager’s asking them what they wanted. We have never imposed or dictated to them what they should do. We realize the school is theirs. We are only there to help facilitate getting it built. To that end, villager’s will be employed to help build their school. We have also teamed up with a Togolese NGO to teach and work with them on income-generating skills so that when the school is finished, they will be able to support it for generations to come.
I was wondering how Madonna’s project was moving so quickly. Now it seems as if the people who will be most affected by the building of the school, have not been consulted. Or if they were, no agreement had been reached.
I feel bad for the displaced villagers and for Madonna. I am sure her heart is in the right place. It will be interesting to see what develops.
www.leapingstone.org

— Natalie Nov 6, 03:51 PM #
Natalie from LeapingStone.org brings up a good point about “appropriate” charity and sustainability. While, Madonna’s efforts are commendable, sometimes these grandiose celebrity projects don’t work as well the tiny steps that villagers can take themselves. To borrow an oft quoted phrase: One small step per village can mean a giant leap forward for African development overall..!

— Donald Peterson Nov 6, 05:01 PM #
I am happy for the Malawia’n people that they recieved wishes to my favorite star Madonna.Congratulation !!! Malawia’n people…

November 09,2009
Monday, 08:32 AM
At: 38Unit,Philippines
http://www.ma.clariza.com

— Maria.Clariza Colinayo Espela Nov 8, 07:33 PM #
I admire Natalie’s graciousness. After 30+ yrs in non-profit direct-service and executive management in the US and oversees, I am truly fed-up with the ego-centric self-indulgence of the wealthy who feel entitled to buy their solutions and impose them on those and their circumstances supposedly being “fixed.” Harsh? harldy – such practices perpetuate and even worsen those very situations they supposedly intend to solve, exascerbating and compounding related circumstances. There are best-practices – Natalie has outlined them. Shame on the fame too enmeshed in their own needs to listen, learn and not be the center of everyone’s universe.

— Maureen Nov 9, 01:32 PM #

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Malawian Villagers Block Construction of Madonna Charity's School

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