I am a bit late in commenting on this subject. This was intentional on my part as I needed to calm down a little before writing about it. As you may have heard, Madonna flew to Malawi in her private jet to try and adopt 3 year old Chifundo James from the same orphanage where David Banda resided. Unfortunately, this time around, Madonna was unsuccessful as Malawi law prohibits adoption by non-residents (don’t ask me how the first one went through).
I am not upset by the judge’s decision per say. After all, she is just following the law and doing her job. She also made a very good point about the risk of other unsavory characters (read pedophiles) taking advantage and coming to Africa to “adopt” children. What upsets me the most is that there are still people out there that were rejoicing (I heard one lady scream “YES!” at the news) about the decision. Others try to justify this by stating that what Africa needs are local projects that will benefit all the orphans.
So what about Chifundo? I believe that every child is special and their needs to be considered individually. I have been through this before in a previous blog about David Banda. The choice for her future was a straight forward one. A future in poverty, little to no opportunity, poor health, no education OR life with a millionaire (need I say more?). Again, there are no guarantees in life – only probabilities. Whether you are a fan of Madonna or not, by rejoicing that the adoption was denied, you are rejoicing that a little child’s life may have just been damned!
