Posted on 11/05/2006 5:15:17 PM PST by Pokey78
THE orphanage where Madonna adopted her son has revealed that the pop star rejected seven “genuine” orphans before picking baby David.
Lucy Chipeta, executive director of the Home for Hope orphanage, attempted to block the adoption of David Banda because of concerns about him being separated from his father.
“Of course this was a chance for David, but he had a parent. There are other desperate children and we would have loved her to take one of them,” she said.
The revelation came amid concerns that Madonna was unaware of baby David’s family background when she adopted him. Last week she claimed that his father had played no role in his life.
She told BBC’s Newsnight: “That’s why I became interested in him. If somebody had said to me ‘Oh, his dad comes every week’, or ‘his granny visits on a regular basis and he’s well looked after,’ I would not even have given it another thought.”
According to Chipeta, Yohane Banda used to cycle 36km to see his son up to three times a week. He took him to the Home for Hope orphanage in Mchinji after his wife Malita died days after giving birth to him.
“David’s father used to visit him three times a week and sometimes even more whenever word reached him that his son was sick. He was so close to his son we had doubts that he was going to allow David to go away,” Chipeta said.
The adoption process began earlier this year when the Malawian government drew up a shortlist of 12 one-year-old boys for Madonna to choose from. David was not one of them.
In July a camera crew from Madonna’s Raising Malawi charity visited the country and filmed the children. Seven of them were based at the Home for Hope orphanage, where three were singled out for special attention.
They were Wezi, whose mother had Aids and died shortly after giving birth to him, Chisomo, whose parents had both died of Aids, and Paul, who was abandoned by his father and whose mother was mentally ill.
During their visit, however, the crew came across David as he crawled out of his room. “They all stopped in amazement and the cameras started clicking,” said Chipeta. “Two women who were on the crew immediately lifted him up and loved this boy. We were not surprised because everyone who saw David just fell in love with him.”
After viewing the pictures, Madonna began making inquiries about the boy. Penston Kilembe, Malawi’s director of child welfare, contacted the orphanage and asked for more details, but Chipeta had concerns.
“He told us that the people that came to see the seven kids wanted to adopt David. We were not even told at this time that it was Madonna who was interested in the child,” she said.
“We argued with him and said to him that he should take the other children, not David, because he had a father. There were other desperate boys who did not have relatives to see them.”
On October 4, Madonna made her first visit to the orphanage. After handing out copies of her new children’s book and briefly meeting Chimoso, Wezi and Paul, she spent the rest of her visit with David.
She and her husband, Guy Ritchie, were clearly taken with the boy. They returned two days later to spend more time with him. “They played together and we watched,” said Chipeta. “What surprised me was how humble she was, sitting down on the dirty floor, cuddling the child and laughing with him.”
David, however, was not well. According to Jane Muhenga, his foster mother, he was suffering from pneumonia and had twice been admitted to hospital. As a result he was not initially considered suitable for adoption.
“He was on and off. He was sick, could not stretch his legs and arms and had convulsions. He had pneumonia but was a brave boy,” Muhenga said.
He began to recover, however, after being treated by a doctor who accompanied Madonna on her visit. Within a week her bodyguards arrived to take David away. He was driven with his foster mother to the ranch where the pop singer and her entourage were staying.
“It was like a movie,” said Chipeta. “At around midday her bodyguards called me and said I should prepare David. They drove in and one of them immediately put David on his back. He moved into the car so that no one could see them and minutes later they sped off.”
Madonna has since returned to Britain with the boy, but faces growing criticism in Malawi. A group of human rights organisations is going to court in two weeks’ time to challenge the legality of the adoption.
Boniface Mandere, of Eye of the Child, the Malawian child welfare organisation, said: “This child is not a full orphan, he has a father, he has a grandmother, he has a community. There are other orphans looking for support and that’s a real concern for us.”
Asitineti Mwale, who says she is David’s grandmother, also contradicted the singer’s claim that he had been abandoned by his family: “That’s a lie. We used to visit David often and every time he felt sick we used to get a message from the orphanage and one of the nephews or myself went to see him.”
A spokesman for Madonna said: “That’s not the information Madonna received.”
I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if after Madonna milks this for all the publicity she can, the kid is quietly returned to his father.
What is your opinion on this? There are so many conflicting reports that it is hard to tell what is the actual case.
My feelings are, who cares? The child was in desperate need and in an orphanage, and someone wants to adopt him. I personally don't like Madonna, but if she wants to adopt this child, more power to her.
Why not adopt the entire family and let him live in comfort with them? She can afford it.
Can anyone explain to me why a parent puts a kid of theirs in an orphanage ?
I understand that he needed a wet nurse at first but then after that take care of your kids.
I guess my question goes beyond this particular story. Why do Dads/Moms do this ?
I've seen it done and I just can't get my head around it.
Bingo! What made me suspicious was that she (Madonna) started thing shortly after it was clear Angela Jolei(sp??) was getting pretty good PR traction out of her carefully orchestrated African adoptions.
The article states that David's mother died several days after giving birth to him. Think about this - in a third world African country that doesn't have supermarkets on every corner selling baby formula (and hospitals are few and VERY far between), how is a father with a newborn supposed to feed his child?
Two ladies (RNs) from our church went on a short term mission trip to Mali a few months ago. They visited one such orphanage, and there learned that most often these kids are dropped off because their mother has died (or is incapacitated in some way) and the family can't feed them. At these homes, there are surrogate moms who nurse the babies. The families visit and then when the child is weaned a couple years later, the family comes back for him and takes him home.
I think it's entirely plausible that David's father did not want to give him up and saw the orphanage as a temporary solution to his problem, as do many African parents in his situation.
Rock Stars...They never order from the menu.
f,
the answer here is that his wife died at birth, he has to work in the fields all day. Per capita income in Malawi is $160 ANNUALLY. He has few choices. He did all he could.
On one of the tv shows, I forget which one it was said she was looking to adopt in the USA but that Angelina & Brad talked her into checking out African babies. Not sure if its true. I don't care for her myself but she is giving money to orphanages in this country. She has an interest in this country so I think that because she is giving money and spending time there the rules were bent for her. I have heard so many different stories that I don't know what to believe. The little boy has more of a chance with her then left in the orphanage I suppose and he was sick so maybe he is going to well taken care of by her. I am more concerned that adopting these children is the new Hollywood "In Thing" to do.
Yeah, this is a woman with her head on right.
Wrong. She despises the U.S., President Bush and our troops. She is a trader.
Sorry.
I still stand behind what I posted.
Do you think any of these people would lie for financial gain? Hard to believe. /s
Yeah, this is a woman with her head on right.
I totally agree with you, I don't like Madonna . I believe the boy was already named David, it wouldn't surprise me if she changed it to something else. My main issue is that I really wonder if these Hollywood people are adopting for the right reasons or if its just the new thing to do. If thats the case they shouldn't be adopting. A child is a lifetime commitment.
Actually, it does matter.
You see, children are put up for adoption for THEIR sake, not to please an overaged rock star.
In poor African villages, the children are loved by extended families. However, if a mother dies in childbirth or while the child is young, there is no milk and they can't afford formula, so if there is no mother with extra milk to feed the kid, the family will drop it at an orphanage so it won't die of malnutrition.
However, when the child is weaned (at age 3 or 4) and is over the danger period of dying, and can eat meat and solid food, then often the family takes them home.
When I was in Africa, the nuns found that kids raised in orphanages did a lot better if family kept in touch and then took them home.
Foreign adoption is the third choice for such kids. (first is family, second is in country adoption, third is out of country adoption).
Children who have family often still have issues of abandonment (For example, my kids had no parents,but did have an uncle who abused them which is why they were taken away from that uncle. I arranged the visit and reconcilliation because the uncle had found the Lord and stopped drinking...it helped with my son's despair that he was unlovable because the uncle didn't want him)...
It may not be "logical" that a child would resent living in a rich home, but love is more important. And how do you think the kid will feel when he is a teenager and finds he was adopted as a publicity stunt?
Now, do you think a child is better off in an extended family who loves him, or with a narcissitic rock star who will let nannies raise him and will only "care" for him when the press is looking?
I mean, she didn't even stay in the country to make sure he could be adopted. She skedaddled home and let him "come home" with the hired help.
For the love of all things Holy, will someone call a spade a spade and stop pretending that this woman has not exploited a child, its family, its country, and its heritage, to keep her ugly mug in front of the camera? Its disgusting. she is disgusting, her supporters in this....disgusting!
Fine! I'll say it! VADGE you disgusting media whore! You have exploited this child for your own shameless self promotion and needy attention seeking! You are a filthy ingrate!
Its a human being, not the latest fashion accessory.
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