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  • MALAWI: Madonna visits a new day care centre she is funding in Malawi, one of the world's poorest, most disease-stricken countries

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MALAWI: Madonna visits a new day care centre she is funding in Malawi, one of the world's poorest, most disease-stricken countries

Madonna danced with Malawian children on Thursday (April 19) during a visit to an orphanage and urged them to "help themselves" instead of relying on her. Wearing dark glasses and clutching the one-year-old Malawian boy she is adopting, the singer toured the 120,000 U.S. dollar (USD) facility that is home to 4,000 orphans and which she helped to fund. Surrounded by children, she jived to Malawian music accompanied by pounding traditional drums as staff and villagers sang "Madonna thank you for coming". HIV/AIDS has killed millions in Malawi, leaving more than a million orphans. Raising Malawi, a charity co-founded by Madonna, provides food, education and health services to 32,000 orphans in the southern African country through seven community-based organisations. This is Madonna's second visit to Malawi six months after she and her film director husband Guy Ritchie signed interim adoption papers for custody of local toddler David Banda. David will stay with the couple for 18 months at their home in London before a decision by the Malawian government on whether to finalise the adoption. Rights groups have accused Madonna of using her fame and wealth to circumvent the country's adoption rules, but the singer has insisted she is following the law. Madonna's spokeswoman has denied media reports the American star plans to adopt a second child and said she is focusing on her charity work in Malawi during this visit. Thursday's trip to the orphanage comes at the end of a four-day visit to Malawi, during which Madonna visited the Home of Hope orphanage where David once lived, and where witnesses said he met his biological father.

ITN Source | April 26, 2007Watch more videos from ITN Source

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