Online Only: Madonna and child

My first instinct upon hearing of Madonna's decision to adopt a child from Malawi was probably the same as many others': I assumed it was a publicity stunt, a sham, an effort to look holier than thou, a lame attempt at trying be like Angelina Jolie.\nMy curiosity got the better of me, however, and I ended up clicking on a story about the controversial adoption on the Yahoo.com homepage.\nAccording to the story, the infant, a boy named David, was placed in an orphanage by his father after his mother died and the father was no longer able to care for the child. Madonna and her husband are complying with the country's adoption laws, meaning that David will live with them in a trial phase that will last 18 months, after which the couple will be evaluated and either granted or denied permanent custody.\nSeveral organizations in Malawi have protested against the high-profile adoption, but the boy's biological father says he is happy his son will have a better life and claims the protestors are jealous of the child. \nThe public focuses on the negative side of this adoption, but the story brings issues of global poverty and the AIDS crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa to light.\nHow many of us can say we knew anything about Malawi, or that such a place even existed, until we read about Madonna's trip and the adoption?\nYeah, that's what I thought.\nSure, it's not the ideal way to expose these issues, but, if it does, hey, it's better than nothing.\nOf course nobody focuses on the fact that in Malawi, a country of more than one million orphans , Madonna decided to build an orphanage to house 4,000 children and eventually hopes to raise $3 million dollars for AIDS orphans.\nIf you ask me, that seems like a wonderful idea and a noble gesture. Sure, there are probably those out there decrying her actions as merely bids for more fame. In the end, though, how many orphanages are Madonna's critics building? How much money for AIDS orphans are they raising?\nGranted, Madonna's intentions may or may not be all that noble -- we have no way of knowing. Quite frankly, I don't really care. The fact of the matter is: someone has done something good in this world in which numbness to the pain and suffering of others grows exponentially day by day.\nWhy do we automatically assume that because someone is a celebrity, he or she could not possibly do anything out of the goodness of his or her heart?\nPersonally, I think everybody should focus on what really matters, not that a celebrity adopted a baby, but the conditions in Malawi.\nThe impact of the publicity given to Malawi by Madonna's decision to adopt and invest there cannot be measured. Maybe, one day when you walk past people raising money for AIDS awareness and you pretend to fiddle with your iPod so you don't have to dig into your pocket for change, you'll think twice.