Orphans forever

Among the entertainment fraternity, Angelina Jolie did it first. Now Madonna is doing a me-too. Angelina has two adopted orphaned children - one a Cambodian and another an Ethiopian. She subsequently gave birth to a daughter with Brad Pitt, her current husband. So her family is now a veritable United Nations of sorts. Angelina is herself of Czech and English descent. Will blood become thicker than water in the years to come? Only time will tell.

Madonna has only just started the adoption circus. Her attempt to adopt a hardly orphaned child - the child's father is still very alive and kicking but who practically gave his child away - had faced difficulties but the Malawi High Court, in a travesty of common sense, has granted adoption custody to the singer. One wonders if there is not some under-the-table shananigan going on here. Well, lets be frank about this and call a spade a spade. This has been a highly sophisticated and legalised kid-napping.

Madonna's natural children are said to have taken to their new step brother. For now, that is. Will they grow up to love their coloured step brother and will the mother love all of them equally? Again, only time will tell. Then we will know if blood does not count.

Suffice to say that this type of 'doing good' is highly selective and benefits only a few - one to be exact. Can't these incredibly rich people see beyond one child to help more? They don't have to adopt everyone, just give them the wherewithal to grow up in a peaceful environment where they can be educated to lift themselves out of the vicious cycle of poverty - on their own and among their own peoples and within their own country. For after all, when a person grows up, they would want to know where they came from, and who their own people are. I would hate to think that 'orphans' transplanted out of their natural homes will remain orphans from their own people, culture and history - all the rest of their lives.

Image Source: http://www.cbc.ca/