U.S pop icon, Madonna, on Tuesday opened a world-class children’s ward in Malawi hospital. The singer/philanthropist has a close relationship with Malawi having adopted four children from the country. The Mercy James Center in the city of Blantyre is named after one of her adopted children.
The center was built through the efforts of her charity, Raising Malawi. It is Malawi’s first paedratic surgery and intensive care unit (ICU). The facility’s full name is Mercy James Institute for Paediatric Surgery and Intensive Care.
According to Madonna, the children’s hospital would make a difference in the lives of thousands of children in the southern African country.
According to the UN, Raising Malawi, funded by Madonna’s charity, is the first specialised health unit for children in the country of 18 million residents, which is among the 20 poorest in the world.
The pop icon, 58, decided to name the 50-bed paediatric facility after her 11-year-old daughter Mercy James and was joined by her little girl at its launch.
Madonna said her legal battle to adopt Mercy James in 2009 was a fight which she won, adding that “I fought for Mercy and I won. “I am here to say ‘never give up on your dream. Love conquers. “If you do things with love in your heart, you will conquer.”
Speaking at the event, Mercy James drew applause and ululation from the crowd after saying: “Many kids and many lives will be saved. Thank you mum, you’re the bomb.”
The President of Malawi, Peter Mutharika, described Madonna as “a loving mother. “We can now have our children with heart conditions undergo surgery; this centre is our national pride.”
