Madonna And Friends Shine A Light On Malawi

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:23:58 -0000

If you were to look on a map, you could be excused for missing Malawi completely. Bordered by Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique in South East Africa, the nation of Malawi is shaped like a lightning bolt, with much of its land area covered by a massive lake. But it a country that is in dire need of help, and a host of celebrities turned out to a dazzling evening of fun on Wednesday, February 6, to raise awareness for what is one of the poorest countries in the world.

The gala event was hosted by Madonna on the lawns of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, with the $3.7 million raised going to UNICEF and her own Raising Malawi organization. A long list of stars, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Lopez, Tea Leoni, Lucy Liu, Billy Joel, Gwen Stefani, and Djimon Hounsou, attended the event, with tickets ranging from $2,500 to $10,000. The evening also featured performances by Alicia Keys, Timbaland, and Rihanna.

“I want to put Raising Malawi on the map,” said Madonna. “I want credibility as a philanthropic organisation. I want to inspire people. I don’t want them to just write me a cheque: I want them to give me a piece of their heart.”

Comedian Chris Rock hosted an auction during the evening, which featured some exciting items donated by celebrity guests. Priceless, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities were up for grabs, such as a dance class with Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow (which sold for $600,000), and a trip to Château Latour – including lunch with Salma Hayek – which was sold to Donald Trump for $120,000.

Tom Cruise, who attended the event with wife Katie Holmes, narrowly missed out on buying a sports package that included baseball practice with Yankee Alex Rodriguez and soccer practice with David Beckham.

“It was an extraordinary evening,” said Cruise. “The whole evening was quite moving. [Saving Malawi] is an absolute necessity.”

Saving Malawi was co-founded by Madonna in 2006, after she witnessed the plight of the country firsthand. And it is a plight she hopes to make more people aware of.

Recent UNICEF figures state that almost 1 million people in Malawi (whose total population is 13 million) suffer from HIV/AIDS, including 83,000 children. 267 people are infected with the virus every day, and half of the country’s 1 million orphans have lost their parents to the disease.

It is a country where 48% of children are severely malnourished, and many are subjected to the horrors of exploitation. The infant and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world, and 133 children out of 1000 die before they reach the age of five. They suffer from lack of food, shelter, clothing, education, clean water and sanitation, as well as basic medical services, and the average life expectancy is only 37 years.

Raising Malawi hopes to ease the suffering of the children of Malawi by providing smart solutions to the most challenging problems. Instead of just throwing money at the nightmare, they provide grassroots initiatives in the way of healthcare, education, and agriculture at a community level. To do this, they have partnered with some of the best organizations that work in the country, including the Millennium Promise Alliance, the Network of Organizations for Vulnerable and Orphan Children, and Spirituality for Kids.

One of Raising Malawi’s greatest initiatives is the Orphan Care Center recently built in the village of Mphandula. Designed to serve 4000 children, it provides a safe haven for orphans, and supplies nutritious meals, basic education, and crucial life skills. Along with programs to introduce solar power, clean water systems, and self-sustenance, Madonna hopes the Orphan Care Center will help Malawi overcome its problems.

“I’ve earned a reputation for many things,” said Madonna during Wednesday’s gala evening. “For pushing the envelope, for being a provocateur, for never taking no for an answer, for endlessly reinventing myself, for being a cult member, a kidnapper, for being ambitious, outrageous, and irreverent. And for never settling for second best. I don’t just want you to write me a check. I’m more interested in your heart. I want to take you on that journey with me tonight. I want you to feel as inspired as I do right now.

“Yes, I want to raise Malawi. But if I can do that – if we can do that – then the sky’s the limit.”

Madonna To Headline Charity Event

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 10:54:12 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

One of the most well-known names in show business is teaming up with one of the biggest names in fashion for a fund raising event expected to generate millions of dollars to revitalize the lives of orphans and vulnerable children in the African nation of Malawi.

Madonna has joined forces with Gucci to prove she is not just a material girl, and will headline a special gala and show on February 6, 2008. The event will benefit UNICEF and Raising Malawi, the charity the singer co-founded in 2006, and will focus on ending the poverty and hardship suffered by Malawi’s 1 million orphans, many of whom have had parents die from the AIDS pandemic.

To help with the event, which is expected to raise over $2 million for the cause, Madonna has enlisted the help of her many friends as co-chairs, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Lucy Liu, Salma Hayek, Tea Leoni, Adrien Brody, Arpad Busson, and Francois-Henri Pinault.

“I am grateful that Gucci is joining forces with me to bring attention to a country with millions of children in desperate need of our help,” said Madonna when the event was announced. “Raising Malawi has already done tremendous work in helping these children. But we have much more to do, and this event will surely bring us closer to our goal.”

Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie are currently embroiled in a bid to adopt a young child from Malawi, 13-month-old David Banda. However, the adoption attempt has been the centre of much controversy, especially from human rights groups who have accused the singer of trying to get around the country’s laws by using her fame and wealth. The 49-year-old denies the allegations, and a hearing at Malawi’s High Court will be held in 2008 to decide whether the couple are suitable parents and should be allowed to welcome the child into their family.

Raising Malawi was established to assist the African country with its poor public health record and high AIDS rate – it is estimated that 12% of the population between the age of 15-49 suffer from the disease.

“Every day, 6000 children lose a parent to AIDS,” said Caryl Stern, president and CEO of the US Fund for UNICEF, who also thanked Madonna and Gucci for organizing the gala event. “Every day, 1400 children die from AIDS.”

Gucci has been a UNICEF corporate partner since 2004, and the event in February will also celebrate the opening of the biggest Gucci store on the planet, situated on New York’s Fifth Avenue.

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