Sisters in Law and Celeb Adoptions

I watched a lovely docu-film on Wednesday night on the More Four channel called Sisters in Law. Set in the little town of Kumba in the Cameroons, this fascinating and often hilarious documentary follows the work of State Prosecutor Vera Ngassa and Court President Beatrice Ntuba as they help women fight often-difficult cases of abuse, despite pressures from family and their community to remain silent. I Googled it and was surprised to discover that it had been screened at the 2005 Cannes film festival. To read more about sisters in law, go here.

Please excuse me for sounding a bit cynical but what is this new fad with celebrities adopting ‘poor’ children from African countries? Seems like Madonna has jumped on the band wagon too. It was amusing listening to Benston Kilembe, Malawi's director of child welfare services fumble through an interview on BBC Radio four this morning on which he was grilled as to why the adoption rules appear to have been slightly bent in favour of Madonna. He claimed that they (Madonna and her husband) had ‘followed the normal processes’ for adoption. But when questioned as to whether these ‘normal processes’ would apply to other (ordinary) couples wanting to adopt, he couldn’t give a straight answer. In the end the radio four interviewer expressed the opinion that it seemed like Mr. Kilembe was making the rules up as he went along. I had to agree.

I mean come on. In Malawi, like in many other African countries, I am sure money is the name of the game and when Madonna comes along, hell, loads of rules are sure to be bent.

I am sure deep inside she does mean well and would give this little boy a life his biological parents could never have been able to give him in a million years, but I still can’t shake the cynical thought that these adoptions of African children by celebs smacks of faddiness. They sure provide a good photo op!