A famous Aafrican supermodel, who spends a discreet amount of time paying back her fortune by building infrastructure in her native land of Malawi, has been very vocal about what she calls the 'distortion' of celebrity adoption.
She contends that such adoptions do very little to improve the condition of the place where they take place. Much more useful would be involvement and investment in such locales to bolster the quality of life of the people they so dramatically defend. Those who do give money to the countries they visit, do so haphazardly, without planning as to its effectiveness or the ultimate recipients.
What the model contends, is that these children that are eyed for adoption should never be 'eradicated' from their countries, but that they should be fostered 'in situ'. But that also means visiting and spending time with the tribal chiefs and the villages, not just sending money.
She has founded a relief effort called Amor, in 2006, from London,. As a refugee herself, the model has experienced first hand the perils and the need that come to those who flee from war torn countries.
Indeed, Madonna's efforts in Malawi, efforts that include financial support, have come under scrutiny recently, The local authorities in Malawi have complained that the efforts by the popstar have bandied about to have provided schools and facilities that were found to be already in existence for the most part, and that the actual contribution consists of a much more modest construction effort.
What she, the model, advocates is to become involved as a permanent or long term presence in the locales they wish to foster. This in effect is called "building hope".
More importantly she stresses that one of the things that hurt her most was losing the ability to visit her country and her family as a refugee. This is the central theme of her plight, that the child should never have to suffer the loss of its homeland and the presence of family and friends.
Source:The Indipendent 2.6.13
No comments:
Post a Comment