MADONNA

The queen of pop has switched from music to film to highlight the plight of Malawi’s orphans

Text by Francesca Lombardo

Madonna in Malawi with baby David Banda,
who turns three this year
Images: Corbis

Madonna with orphansEarlier this summer, Madonna switched song lyrics for movie dialogue when she presented the documentary I Am Because We Are at the Cannes Film Festival. Written and narrated by the star, and directed by her former gardener, Nathan Rissman, it offers a thoughtful view of the tragic condition of orphans in Malawi.

Cynics have questioned the intentions of the star, arguing that Madonna used the documentary and the festival as a platform to defend herself against criticisms surrounding her adoption of baby David Banda from Malawi. But, once again, Madonna has surprised everyone. I Am Because We Are is not a personal plea, but a faithful representation of the plight of thousands of kids less fortunate than ourselves.

How did your initial trip to Malawi come about?
One day I received a call from a woman who lived in Malawi and she said to me: “You have children, you write books for children and donate money to charity. This means that children are close to your heart.” She told me that Malawi is going through a serious crisis; around one million babies are made orphans by AIDS and no one pays any attention to this problem. “Can you help?” she asked me.

With daughter Lourdes and
baby DavidWhat was your reaction?
To be honest, I didn’t even know where Malawi was, let alone anything about this crisis with orphans. I decided to see it with my own eyes. The experience moved me greatly; I went to orphanages, I met special people. For me it was a deep experience and one of huge personal growth.

What is the message of the documentary?
We wanted to make the audience sit up and pay attention to Malawi, but that was not all. It is a way of showing how our lives are entwined; I hope to help people understand that we are not only responsible for our own lives, but also for those of others, regardless of geographical and cultural boundaries.

Did your experience as a donor lead you to adopt David Banda?
Yes, that was the journey, but if I could I would have adopted all the children in the orphanage where I met David. They all need parents and are all beautiful and special.

What else have you learnt from your experience in Malawi?
That we achieve a lot on an individual level, but it’s the small things that can change the world.

Director Nathan RissmanHow do you respond to the accusations that you didn’t follow the legal route for adopting a child?
The adoption was finalised, and the father of my child is 100% happy with the situation. I can only say that this adoption has created a base to legalise adoption in the country, something that didn’t exist before my experience. This means that many other small Malawi orphans can now be adopted and have a family.

And how did you get through the two years before the adoption was finalised?
It was a painful time, but I tried to rationalise the experience and learn important life lessons from it. In the end, to give birth to a child means going through a period of physical suffering, which is physiological and natural. We say that I had my time of suffering while I waited for David to be a part of my family and give him the chance of a better future.

MADONNA

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