SINGER MADONNA STARTS BUILDING SCHOOL

Madonna

Pop icon Madonna, has launched the construction of a multi-million dollar girls school she is building in Malawi today, and pledged to build more schools in other countries if the project is successful. The Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, located in the Chinkhota village about 15 kilometers outside the capital Lilongwe, is expected to be completed in two years and will admit 500 girls from the small southern African country's 28 districts. The construction is expected to cost around $15 million. "Growing up in a privileged life, I took education for granted...but coming to Malawi has taught me a lot of things and (I have) learnt to appreciate what life gives," Madonna said. The singer, who has adopted two children from Malawi, said she wanted to give opportunities to underprivileged young girls. "I realized how much they deserve to be educated and so for me the best thing I could do was to build a school, a unique school that will create future female leaders, scientists, lawyers, doctors and if this school is successful it will be used as a model to replicate it in other countries," she said.
Photo By: RD/Kabik/Retna