You cannot please everyone all the time - something Madonna is discovering now that the plans for the girls' school she is building in Malawi have resulted in reports of villagers being forced from their homes. This was not, presumably, the queen of pop's plan. She has adopted two children from the poverty-stricken country and pumped millions of dollars into its infrastructure. Her intentions are good. And yet, this particular philanthropic deed has generated undesirable headlines.
According to reports earlier this week, around 200 people came out to protest at the prospect of their homes being bulldozed in favour of the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, but gave up the unequal struggle after the government, perhaps not surprisingly, decided to back Madonna. The plot had, they claimed, always been earmarked for development, and the villagers were only entitled to their homes as long as it remained empty.
They are, of course, being offered financial compensation, as well as new land and improvements such as gardens and trees, which will come from the singer's Raising Malawi Foundation. On Sunday, the head of the foundation said that reports of conflict with the villagers were "not factual". He said that "opportunism" that strikes whenever Madonna is associated with a project was to blame and that the singer was in fact only one of many donors to the project. Meanwhile, plans for the school, which is expected to be completed in 2012, steam ahead.
