Madonna’s adoption of a Malawian child from an orphanage has been punished with vitriol and ridicule. Some have said this is but her latest publicity stunt. Africans have raised the specter of the old, oft-misused club: neocolonialism.
I feel what she’s done deserves our admiration and support, since the hordes of African AIDS and war orphans will be helped not by armchair critics but by the courageous few who are willing to do the extraordinary.
Madonna teamed with Jeffrey Sachs, a renowned developing-world economic expert, on programs to improve the health, agriculture and economy of a Malawian village, and with Bill Clinton to bring low-cost medicines to the area.
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Madonna said that no family member had been to visit the boy since the death of his mother. Madonna obtained consent from David’s father.
I, too, have watched Madonna’s many publicity-driven metamorphoses with dismay, and a measure of admiration. Her reinventions show an uncanny savvy in the ways of human psychology.
Whatever her personal motives are for the adoption, I am thankful. After all, many magnificent monuments and great works have been built from pride and ego.
For decades, the civilized world turned a blind eye on Africans dying from HIV/AIDS, ignoring the children they left behind. I’m glad Madonna is helping to bring this issue into our living rooms. Hopefully more Americans will endeavor to emulate her courage.
Africa’s orphan situation is truly grim. According to UNAIDS, the joint United Nations Program on AIDS, it is estimated that 20 million children will have lost a parent to AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa alone by 2010.
Traditionally, orphaned African children were taken care of by relatives. Adding to Africa’s misfortune is the fact that those ties to tradition have crumbled, assaulted by colonialism, brutal dictators, wars and diseases. With the deaths of parents – and sometimes the demise of whole villages – children are left fending for each other, living in rudimentary, poorly run orphanages, or living on the street. Obviously, adoption to any family that can care for a child is preferable.
Since 1991, Americans have adopted 55,000 Chinese girls. Ethiopia (with 400 adopted) is the only African country appearing in the top 10 nations that allow adoptions by Americans.
I was surprised to learn that Canadians and Europeans adopt very few African-American and mixed-race babies. It’s well-known that thousands of black children languish in our foster homes, waiting for adoption. Both black and white communities could do more to take care of them.
Sadly though, even if American adoptions of African orphans picked up, it will only make a dent in the homeless millions. This crisis will not go away soon. It’s imperative that African and Western governments, adoption agencies and non-governmental organizations work toward creating havens for orphans in Africa where so much can be done with so little.
While Madonna must do what she feels is best for her family, and I admire what she is doing, another reality is that the money spent raising David, traveling to Malawi with her retinue and arranging the adoption could have been used to support many more orphans, or in educating and training Africans to take care of their own.
That said, I wish Madonna well and urge others to look at her work as a possible starting point.
Pius Kamau of Aurora is a thoracic and general surgeon. He was born and raised in Kenya and immigrated to the U.S. in 1971. His column appears twice a month.
