Just some thoughts…..

I actually like Madonna.  I think it is wonderful that she is trying to help the people of Malawi.  I am also envious.  I only wish I had the resources she has.  I think I read that she is spending $15 million on this school.  If that is correct, then I have to wonder about a few things.  First, it seems like maybe she could spend  a lot less and perhaps create more schools.  I mean, why not spend $1million on 15 facilities?  Also, I wonder about her empowerment idea.  I am not sure that you empower people by giving them something without expecting them to contribute in some way.

I know that we are working with the villagers in Dedeke to help them to become self reliant.  We want them to have income-generating skills so that they can eventually support their school without our help.  When we  build the school, we will be using villagers as workers.  Those who have building skills will be employed as skilled workers and the rest of the villagers will help as unskilled labor.  This is their school.  This is their village.

I assume Madonna knows all this and has advisers who are knowledgeable and experienced.  It will be interesting to see what happens in Malawi.  I certainly hope it is a success!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 6:20 pm and is filed under News and Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.