Madonna in Malawi to Launch Building of Girls' School

April 8, 2010 - PRLog -- The singer has longstanding ties to Malawi. She adopted two children from the country and her charity has invested in helping Malawi's AIDS orphans.

"By educating girls we will rebuild this community and raise this nation," writes Madonna on her Web site about the school she is building. The academy is just outside of Lilongwe, Malawi's capital. When completed, it will educate 450 girls.

Madonna believes that the girls who will attend her school are Malawi's hope for the future. Through her school, she writes, "we will stop the brain drain happening in so many African nations-our students will receive an internationally competitive education while incorporating local values."

Malawi Children in Need Raised Locally by SOS Children's Villages

SOS Children's Villages cherishes local values. The organization has been nurturing vulnerable Malawi children inside the country since the early 1990s. Through its three Children's Villages -- in Lilongwe, in Mzuzu to the north, and in Blantyre to the south -- SOS has given children orphaned by AIDS, poverty, and disaster warm homes and hope for a better life.

The SOS approach, practiced in 132 countries, is to raise unaccompanied children in their own cultural and religious traditions. The charity trains local women who love children how to be professional SOS mothers. These mothers, the warm SOS homes they provide, and the presence of SOS siblings bring light and laughter into the lives of children who have seen neither in their short lives. SOS schools, clinics, and vocational training centers lavish attention on both SOS Village children and nearby children in need.

Keeping Families Together

In conjunction with raising destitute children in Malawi, SOS runs family strengthening programs that help bolster households. The goal of counseling families on AIDS prevention, parenting skills, and how to start small businesses is to enable them to remain intact and care for their own children.

In Malawi SOS also strengthens at-risk families by providing temporary food, healthcare and counseling assistance.

Learn more about SOS Children's Villages work around the world by signing up for SOS eNewsletters:
http://www.sos-usa.org/welcome

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For over 60 years, SOS Children's Villages has been dedicated to the long-term care of children without parental care. Through our SOS Children's Villages, Family Strengthening Programs, and other initiatives, SOS impacts the lives of over 1 million people each year.

SOS Children's Villages has received numerous honors including the Save the World Award, the Mother Teresa Gold Medal, the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and the Vietnam Friendship Medal.

Learn more at http://www.sos-usa.org