Madonna's school trip to Malawi

Mon Oct 26 2009 15:20:52

Madonna is visiting Malawi to lay the foundation stone of a multi-million dollar girls' school she is building, her charity Raising Malawi has confirmed.

The singer, who has adopted two children from the southern African country, arrived on Sunday and is attending a brick-laying ceremony in Lilongwe. The school is expected to cost around $15 million (£9 million).

A member of her charity said: "She plans to meet the President Bingu wa Mutharika and together lay a foundation stone for her multi-million dollar girls' school."

An AIDS epidemic has left over a million children orphaned in the impoverished country.

Malawi's government came under fire after Madonna adopted a 13-month-old boy, David Banda, in 2006, with critics accusing it of giving her special treatment by skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children.

In June this year, Malawi's Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling made in April which said Madonna could not adopt a four-year girl - Mercy James - because the singer was not a resident of the country.

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