Madonna weeps at Malawi orphanage

Madonna broke down in tears as she visited the orphanage in Malawi from where she adopted her son, David Banda. The singer adopted the boy, now four, from the African country in October 2006 when he was 13 months old. This week she visited the centre in Mchinji to introduce four-year-old David to the staff who used to care for him. The centre's director Lucy Chipeta said: "David is too young to understand. But for us who remember the sickly tiny little baby of 2006, it was hard to hold back tears, including Madonna."

Orphanage founder Thomson Chipeta told Us Weekly magazine: "He is so boisterous! I can't believe he is the same chap of 2006." Madonna - who also adopted four-year-old daughter Mercy James from the country earlier this year - recently admitted she has been "taught a lot" by the southern African country. She said: "People always ask me, 'Why did you choose Malawi?' But I have always said, 'Malawi chose me.’ Growing up in a privileged life, I took education for granted. Coming to Malawi has taught me a lot."

Madonna, 51 runs a non-profit organisation Raising Malawi to help vulnerable children. She has been visiting Malawi with David and Mercy and her other children Lourdes and Rocco. Earlier this week they joined their mother on the tour of the orphanage, where Raising Malawi has built several new buildings. On Monday, the star turned the soil and planted a tree at a girls’ school she is building near Malawi's administrative capital Lilongwe as a "gift" to the country from where she adopted two of her children. "After seeing all the hard working Malawian women who are looking after families and communities, I realised how much they deserve to be educated," said Madonna. "The logical project was to build a school that will create future women leaders, doctors and surgeons. The school will help girls from vulnerable backgrounds to move forward. They will use the principles of spirituality for kids," said the singer who is a devotee of Jewish Kabbalah mysticism. The school will take two years to build.

Madonna is also funding several charities in the small southern African country, including homes for children with Aids. She has already built a multi-purpose community centre at Mphandula village, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Lilongwe, which looks after more than 8,000 orphans from scores of villages in the area. Malawi is one of the world's poorest nations, with more than half of the population of 12 million living on less than one dollar a day. The singer has a personal fortune estimated at several hundred million dollars.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children