BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) – Madonna in Malawi on Sunday visited the construction of a children’s wing at a hospital that her charity is funding in this southern African country’s largest city, Blantyre.
The pop star has been in Malawi for a week and is to meet President Peter Mutharika and health minister Peter Kumpalume. Madonna went to visit Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital to view the pediatric unit where construction started in May 2015 and which is expected to open in early 2017.
“This new facility is the first pediatric surgery and intensive care unit in any Malawi hospital. It will have an enormous impact on saving the lives of children,” said Madonna, in a statement to The Associated Press. “In addition to raising the quality and availability of health care, we are also preparing for the future by training more Malawian medical staff in specialized pediatric care.”
Answering questions from the press, Madonna said that she does not yet have a name for the new children’s wing.
“We don’t have a name,” she said, “but we have a building and we have dreams and they are going to be manifested very soon.”