An article in The New York Times this morning discusses how Raising Malawi, the charitable foundation Madonna set up with the goal of building a school for girls in Malawi, is a shambles.
This comes after the foundation’s executive director — Madonna’s former trainer’s husband — left last fall after being criticized for his management style.
Madonna set up the Raising Malawi foundation with the goal of building a $15 million school for 400 girls:
“On Thursday, in conceding the shortcomings of her charity, Madonna issued a statement saying she was still intent on using the organization, which has raised $18 million so far, to advance improvements in the beleaguered nation.
‘There’s a real education crisis in Malawi,’ she said. ‘Sixty-seven percent of girls don’t go to secondary school, and this is simply unacceptable. Our team is going to work hard to address this in every way we can.'”
I find it ironic that celebrities who seem to have a limited understanding of what normal healthy habits are can dish out advice on whether education is more important than basic nutrition in a country where the literacy rate among women 15-24 years old is 85 percent but where 40 percent of people lived on less than a dollar a day in 2010 and 16 percent of children under 5 are malnourished.