Madonna and Malawi

For those who are not aware of the connection between the two nouns in the title of this post, Madonna is an American pop star and Malawi is a southern African country. Recently, Madonna created a relationship with Malawi that began with her adopting kids from that country and creating a charity that seems to be dedicated to education. However, the relationship between Madonna and Malawi now seems akin to that between a country and another country because Madonna has so dominated high level leadership in Malawi - from ministers to the president herself. The beggarly attitude of Malawi's elite has therefore placed Madonna on a par with the country itself so that there is a current row between the two that has brought the president, Joyce Banda, on the brink of apologizing to Madonna. How a whole African country has been reduced to the level of one American pop singer is a tale that is still unraveling.