Madonna Finds A Cause

She wants to help Malawi. But will people buy the mistress of reinvention as a philanthropist?

Malawi is a Pennsylvania-size country in southeast Africa that has four things in abundance that the West doesn't much covet: AIDS, malaria, drought and tobacco (its major crop, now not so lucrative). On the plus side, it has a functioning democracy and no full-blown war. That may explain why, to date, Malawi has not attracted much attention from the rest of the world. But that's about to change. Malawi will soon be hit by a force that has thrown far more robust countries into chaos. Her name is Madonna.

And being Madonna, she's not going into Malawi quietly. She has already...

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