Madonna breaks ground in Malawi

Madonna broke ground Monday in Malawi to start building a girls' academy which she called a "gift" to the country where she had adopted two children.

The pop star, 51, cut a cake, planted a tree and dug a shovel into the earth where the school will be built, at an estimated cost of $15 million. Madonna's daughter, Lourdes, 13, and about 500 Malawians attended the ceremony on the outskirts of Malawi's capital, Lilongwe. It will take two years to build the school.

Raising Malawi Girls Academy will be a "leadership institution to prepare future women leaders" with 500 boarders, including at least two impoverished girls from each of the country's 28 districts, according to a pamphlet issued at the groundbreaking. The school will "focus on mathematics and science which traditionally have failed in Malawi and elsewhere," said the brochure. The school appears to be similar to Oprah Winfrey's leadership academy for girls in South Africa.

In 2006 Madonna adopted a baby boy, David Banda, who is now 3 years old. She returned to Malawi this year and adopted an infant girl, Mercy James. Madonna's Raising Malawi charity also supports local charities to help children with HIV/AIDS.

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/africa/091026/madonna-breaks-ground-malawi