In this week's issue of Time Magazine, there's an article, Madonna Finds A Cause.(Time, August 14, 2006)

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1223372,00.html

Alas, she's Raising Malawai too!!

The article says Madonna has pledged to raise $3 million for programs to help (mostly) orphans there. She has formed a partnership with -- who else? -- economic guru, Jeffrey Sachs to provide $1.5 million for one of his millenium villages -- namely, the village of Gumulira outside the capital Lilongwe.

A while ago, I know she donated $100,000 to build the orphan care center there, which I learned in my conversation with Philip van den Bossche at the Kabbalah Center in LA. I thought $100K was generous, but a little low for Madonna. So, this announcement really makes sense.

What really piqued my interest is that the money won't all be coming from her pocket. Madonna says, "My first thing was I'm going to call people who I know have money and I'm going to call people who I know want to make a difference in the world." The first 10 phone calls she made "came out all very positively" as she puts it. "I know it's going to be expensive, but I'm not worried about raising the money because my whole thing is, I'll back it up. I like to go to people and say, 'I'll put in what you put in. So there's a feeling of camaraderie."

I stink at one:one fundraising. I wonder who she called....I wonder what she said. People have to be really moved to reach deep in their pockets. I hope we hear more about the donors and their motivation (other than being Madonna's friend).

Looks like there's another documentary in the making...Jeffrey Sachs will accompany her to Malawi in October.

I'm going to Malawi for 2-3 weeks sometime between January and March 2007 to do some volunteer work. I'm so excited to help....Hopefully, a lot of positive change will have happened before then.

So, is this a big publicity stunt, as some might suspect. "Will the people buy the mistress of reinvention as a philanthropist?"

Who cares? Seriously! The people in this village have no electricity or piped water! They only know of Madonna as the woman building the center for their children. The head of the village said, "The orphanage project is about serving humanity. It will mean so much to us. We can only ask God to bless this person for her kindness."

That's enough for me!