Madonna's School Displaces 200 Villagers
Credit: Fernando Quevedo/Globo via Getty Images
Madonna's proposed new school for girls in Blantyre, Malawi doesn't just have a $15 million price tag: 200 residents of the village have been urged to relocate to accommodate the new facility per government request, the Associated Press reports.
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On Thursday, a government official informed 200 villagers that the land in Blantyre had been handed over to Madonna, and asked that they move away.
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The principal of the proposed school, Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo, told the Associated Press that Madonna paid the villagers more than $115,000 (or 16 million kwacha) to compensate for their homes.
So far, residents have refused to move from Blantyre, located just outside Malawi's capital, Lilongwe.
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Madonna, 51, has established numerous charitable organizations in Malawi, where she has adopted two children; David, 5, and Mercy, 4.
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18African Land = diamonds under ground, and diamonds = more money for Madonna. Get real people!!! It is not 100% about the people and the children. Why do you think the Villagers were told to move? Why couldn't she find land that was not displacing the villagers? Cha ching people. Its all about the chedda!!!!!
Publicity hog
Have you noticed other celebs also act altruistic to look good in the media?
I agree with patty, she is doing this to look good in the eye of the media, not to actually help anyone! and also @ task, you need to get off the fu^king site! why the fu^k are you insulting people! stupid piece of sh^t.
@denelle they had no choice dear, the gov't is in cahoots with her and told them to leave, like immienent domain, the gov can take ur house and offer you money, you cant say no either way.... and they'll do anything to pls this chick..including give her children that ALREADY HAVE PARENTS
$115,000 each to move? Thas over $23,000,000 million bucks.Its probably $115,000 for all of them.She has no right to tell people, who probably have lived there all thier lives, to up and move because she wants to build a school.Thats why everyone hates Americans, because "we" think we can do whatever "we" want,Just throw some money at a poor country and they will bend over backwards.I dont like Madonna.She seems soooo fake and only does these things to stay in the public eye and she wants to make sure no one forgets who she is.Angelina Jolie seems to really care what she does when she goes and helps these poor countries.
that's 115,000 for all 200 people that's 575 per person..that is nothing! will u abandon your home for $575? i think not..this woman can pretend she's an angel on earth..but i'm telling u this woman has a seat reserved for her in hell...she is displacing 200 people...whether this delusional, narcissist knows it or not..there is this little thing called karma, and nobody escapes it..i predict madonna is going to have a very miserable old life...nobody is going to want to be around her..she'll be alone in her mansion, with doctors coming in every few weeks to fill her cheeks up..and nobody will want to be around that thing...she has 400 million dollars..and all she can muster up is 575 per person? shame..what a shame...
maybe most of the $15 million was used to bribe the government to agree to the project like many poor countries that wouldn't smooth the way for charities unless some greedy selfish officals can make money out of it.ofcourse i don't know for sure about this case but i've seen plenty like it.
$115,000 and they're not moving, give me the money and i'll move thats enuff to buy a nice house here from where i come from.
Typical - she just throws money at people and expects them to bend to her every whim. Good intentions with the school, but exceptionally bad execution.
It says she paid them for their homes so they sold them, yes? How are they being displaced if they sold their homes? They can buy homes somewhere else and they will have a school. Sounds good to me.
wow she got off her back long enough to displace indigenous ppl... such a european thing to do....i'm so tired of this hore... i'm telling u the worst thing EWVER is having her involved
What Madge wants Madge gets--very sad for those poor peopel that money can buy her what she wants no matter how good her intentions it is wrong.
Madonna is being amazing here. Building a school to educate these peple children out of her own pocket and paying to relocate them. You cant do right for doing wrong. She is brilliant for doing this and deserves praise
And seriously, a 15 million dollar school in Malawi?!?! That's idiotic in and of itself. That's so stupid to put that much money toward just one thing. Frick, 1-2 million would be enough to pimp that school out over there, the rest could go toward other projects. They don't need a US or UK type school that's completely over-the-top. They need a safe place, good teachers, and basic education materials. This whole thing is just so stupid. Sorry, I know she's trying to do good, I'm sure, but it's completely over the top. You could put millions toward building a better hospital that can offer greater access to care for more people...you know, something that is really, really needed in many African nations.
Armchair humanitarian anyone? This is what happens when you don't know WTF is going on where you're trying to help. If she was actually in tune with what was happening outside of her stupid, overpriced school, she would realize that it's asinine to ask impoverished people to just up an "relocate" no matter how much freaking money you give them. Good Lord, you can't just give them a lump of money and order them around. I would venture to guess that the majority of people don't even know what to do with that type of money, it doesn't even register really, in smaller villages.
How horrible of Madonna to do!
How horrible! Sure she paid the people to relocate, but that is probably where some of them have lived for generations! Why have them move? I can't believe that she couldn't find somewhere to build that wasn't already inhabited, and wouldn't have to kick people out of there homes. That is not 'humanitarian' work in my opinion, doing harm to innocent people before you do good!