Pop star Madonna has marked the start of construction at a girls school she is building in Malawi, BBC online reports Monday.
The 51-year-old cut a ribbon and planted a tree at the groundbreaking ceremony at the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls.
The stars four children including David, 4, and Mercy, 3 – whom Madonna adopted from the country – were also present. It is thought construction of the 15 million US dollar (75 mio. DKR) academy will take two years.
The singer wants to give opportunities to underprivileged young girls:
– I realised 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 and doctors. If this school is successful it will be used as a model to replicate it in other countries, she said.
Madonnas charity, Raising Malawi, aims to provide accommodation, food, education and other support to orphans in the poor southern African country. The new Academy is on the outskirts of the capital, Lilongwe, and will admit 500 girls from the countrys 28 districts.
