Madonna charity’s bid to build $15m Malawi school fails

By
Donna Mcconnell
Last updated at 2:46 PM on 25th March 2011

Breakdown: Madonna’s plans for a girls school in Malawi have been dropped. The singer seen here in April 2010

Multimillionaire singer Madonna’s plan to build a school for impoverished girls in
Malawi has failed after the board of directors of the charity, Raising
Malawi, collapsed.

The 52-year-old, who founded the charity, had spent $3.8 million on the project.

The charity’s executive director, who is the boyfriend of Madonna”s former
trainer, Tracy Anderson, left in October amid criticism of the managing of the charity and cost
overruns for the school.

Auditors called in noted lavished spending on salaries, cars, office
space golf club membership, free housing and a car and driver
for the school’s director.

Plans to build a $15 million school for about 400 girls in the African country have since been abandoned.

The charity had been financially supported by Hollywood, as well as the Kabbalah Centre International.

Malawi
officials are allegedly shocked that Madonna was blaming management
breakdowns because she had been unable to raise the money.

According
to The New York Times, Michael Berg, a co-director of the Kabbalah
Centre and the co-founder of Raising Malawi, said: ‘A thoughtful
decision has been made to discontinue plans for the Raising Malawi
Academy for Girls, as it was originally conceived.’

The board of directors of the organization, Raising Malawi, has been ousted and replaced by a caretaker board, including Madonna and her manager, officials with the organisation said Thursday.

Breaking ground: Madonna seen in 2009 turning the soil for the foundation of the multi-million dollar
girls’ school in Chinkota, Malawi which has now been abandoned

Madonna has invested a reputed $11 million of her money to the
organisation she founded with Mr. Berg, as well as her reputation.

Yesterday she c issued a statement saying she was still intent on
using the organisation, which has raised $18 million so date, to help
the struggling nation, from where she has adopted two children, David,
and Mercy.

‘There’s a real education crisis in Malawi, she said.

‘Sixty-seven percent of girls don’t go to secondary school, and this is simply unacceptable.

‘Our team is going to work hard to address this in every way we can.’

She and her aides offered no explanation of why, given her high
interest in the project, she had not noticed the problems as they began
unfolding.