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Madonna to open Malawian school for girls


LILONGWE: Madonna was in Malawi on Monday to attend a ground-breaking ceremony for a school that she is helping to build in the country where she adopted two children.

The pop star's Raising Malawi charity, which support vulnerable and orphaned children, is building the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in the capital, Lilongwe.

On the charity's website, the 51-year-old said she was taking her family with her to Monday's launch of the school, which aimed to "empower girls to become Malawi's future leaders".

Madonna adopted a little girl, Mercy James, in Malawi earlier this year, three years after she obtained custody of her first adoptive Malawian child, David Banda. Both are aged four.

Madonna met both the children in orphanages, where they had been placed after their mothers had died. She also two biological children, daughter Lourdes, 13 and son Rocco, nine.

Madonna said Raising Malawi was working with the local ministry of education and education experts from across the world on a curriculum that would teach the girls "to challenge themselves, serve their local communities and develop their country".

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