A western charity fails in a top-down development project. But the
spotlight shines more on the star than on the unbuilt school
Claire Provost
Wednesday March 30 2011
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/30/madonna-malawi-charity
In Malawi, about $3.8m (?2.4m) has disappeared and a school has been
left unbuilt. Alone, that story would never make international
headlines. But because the money and the project belonged to Madonna's
charity Raising Malawi, the scandal has quickly made its way [http://
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/25/madonna-malawi-charity-squandered-millions"
title="Guardian: Madonna's Malawi charity 'squandered millions'] into
media outlets worldwide.
Celebrities are, of course, not newcomers to the game of getting
unprecedented media coverage for otherwise unpopular issues. The
celebrity campaigner has become so prolific that there is now a
website whose sole purpose is to keep a record of celebrities and
their charitable causes [http://www.looktothestars.org/" title="Look
to the stars: Celebrity Charity News, Events, Organizations Causes].
By today's count, it registers 1,676 charities and 2,493 celebrities.
In 2008, the development economist William Easterly said that part of
the new millennium's explosion of interest in "saving Africa" [http://
www.nber.org/papers/w14363.pdf" title="NBER: Can the west save
Africa">explosion of interest in "saving Africa] could be explained by
the mass advocacy celebrity campaigns spearheaded by the Bonos and the
Geldofs of the world. But aside from the Malawi project's star-studded
cast ? Tom Cruise and Gwyneth Paltrow were also among Madonna's
backers ? there is nothing truly earth-shattering in this story of a
development project that failed to break ground. We've been here
before.
Indeed, from what's emerged so far, the story of Madonna and the
unbuilt school has all the elements of a modern parable about the
failure of top-down development projects. There's a wealthy western
donor. There's the well-intentioned charity, Raising Malawi, whose
name paints Malawi not as a country with a complex history, but as
weak and infantile, in need of guidance and support from those who
know better.
A heated land dispute [http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/21/
madonna-breaks-promise-malawi" title="Guardian: Madonna breaks $15m
promise to Malawi] pits villagers against the wealthy western donor
and the Malawian government, which takes her side: "Don't you know
better? You need a school. You should be grateful." Not long after,
allegations follow of private jets being flown into the country, laden
with luxuries (exercise machines and expensive wines). But the project
only truly begins to falter after auditors uncover "outlandish
expenses" ? salaries, private cars and golf memberships ? and the
charity's executive director bows out. Amid the brewing controversy,
the project is pulled by the wealthy donor, who hopes to cut her
loses.
In the aftermath, staff members are suddenly left without jobs [http://
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/28/charity-workers-sue-madonna-malawi-school"
title="], and file suit for lost wages, unfair dismissal and non-
payment of benefits. As the "mismanagement of funds" is said to have
happened overseas, those among the general public who answered the
charity's call for donations can do little to hold it to account.
Though Madonna had chosen education as her cause, she has now been
forced to share her spotlight with the much more complex development
challenges of corruption, accountability and disenfranchisement.
In one sense, the message from the failed project appears simple: good
intentions are not enough, and money in the wrong hands can be worse
than no money at all. But the unbuilt school also points to much
deeper debates about how development happens: can it come from outside
and above? Or must it come from inside and below?
Celebrity engagement with development issues has, as one might expect,
evolved over time. Today, celebrities are much more than pretty faces
for charity appeals. They're also out and about, lobbying politicians
and setting up their own foundations. But, according to William
Easterly [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2010/12/09/AR2010120904262.html" title="], celebrities have been too
quick to rub shoulders and hobnob with the powerful. And they overstep
the line, he says, by claiming expertise on the basis of their
stardom.
What the world needs, he argues, is not the "celebrity wonk" who
follows fads and promotes top-down technocratic solutions (Build more
schools! Throw in some toilets!), but the "celebrity activist" who
challenges power dynamics and questions the status quo. All too often,
star-studded projects oversimplify complex issues and promote
patronising messages of how the west can save the rest.
And besides, how can you focus on a complex issue when there's a
celebrity in the room? When Time magazine published an Angelina Jolie
op-ed on Darfur in 2009 [http://www.time.com/time/world/article/
0,8599,1903006,00.html" title="Time: Angelina Jolie on the Case
Against Omar al-Bashir ], it wasn't illustrated with an image of
refugees or of Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, but with a close-up
of cat eyes and Angelina's famous pout. In the process, say critics,
attention is diverted away from the tougher, more nuanced issues in
development.
Madonna now has under two weeks to respond to the complaints lodged by
her former staff members. There are bound to be follow-up reports.
Let's hope the spotlight shines less on the star and more on the
unbuilt school, less on the diva and more on the deeper challenges of
development: transparency, accountability and engagement from below.
guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2011
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