Madonna's  Mission with Mercy

As she returns to Malawi to lay first brick of a new £10million school girl's school

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

It was a poignant moment, but the significance of which may not be recognised by the four-year-old girl adopted by Madonna at just this moment.

Mercy James joined her mother and sister Lourdes as she returned to Malawi for the ceremony to lay the first brick for the foundations of a £10million school for girls in the impoverished country.

Madonna returned to Malawi with daughter Mercy.

The brick had the inscription Raising Malawi Academy for Girls and the motto, Dare to Dream etched into it.

The ceremony, held at the site of the school in Chinkhota village, some 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the capital Lilongwe, was attended by education officials and curious villagers.

The pop queen marked the unveiling a new water pump in the Mchinji district of Malawi as part of her charity tour.

Cuddling up to her mother, and then her sister, Lourdes, 13, Mercy later watched as her adopted mother pumped fresh water into a bucket to the delight of locals in the district where adopted brother David, four, was born.

-- Daily Mail