Madonna, Gucci team up for Malawi charity gig

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters Life!) - Madonna is joining forces with luxury goods maker Gucci to raise funds for orphans in Malawi, from where she has been trying to adopt a child since last year.

The U.S. singer and Gucci will host a fundraising event with dinner, musical performance and a party on Feb. 6 next year to mark the opening of Gucci's largest store in the world, on New York's Fifth Avenue.

Madonna said the event will benefit UNICEF and the charity she co-founded in 2006, Raising Malawi, which focuses on trying to end the poverty and hardship suffered by Malawi's one million orphans, many of whose parents died of AIDS.

"I am grateful that Gucci is joining forces with me to bring attention to a country with millions of children in desperate need of our help," Madonna said in a statement.

"Raising Malawi has already done tremendous work in helping these children. But we have much more to do and this event will surely bring us closer to our goal."

Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie's bid to adopt David Banda from Malawi has hit several stumbling blocks since they took the 13-month-old boy from the African country last year. He had been placed in an orphanage by his father after the death of his mother.

Rights groups have accused Madonna of using her fame and wealth to circumvent the country's adoption rules although the singer has insisted she is following the law.

Malawi's High Court is to hold a hearing next year into whether Madonna and Ritchie are suitable parents and should adopt the child.

The New York event is expected to raise at least $2 million with Madonna joined by a list of celebrity co-chairs in the event including Adrien Brody, Arpad Busson, Salma Hayek and Francois-Henri Pinault, Tea Leoni, Lucy Liu, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Gucci, which is owned by French retailer PPR , has been a UNICEF corporate partner since 2004.

Caryl Stern, president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, thanked Madonna and Gucci and said AIDS remained one of the most devastating public health problems in recent history.

"Every day, 6,000 children lose a parent to AIDS, and 1,400 children die from AIDS," Stern said in the statement.

Malawi team deny food short, but a treat always welcome

The Malawi netball team have laughed off suggestions they are too hard-up to afford drink bottles, sports bags and after-match food for their players.

The entire African side, management and the Malawi Minister of Sport enjoyed a dinner of burgers, fries, salads, soft drinks and desserts at Wendy's hamburger restaurant in Te Atatu yesterday after their 81-37 loss to England at Trusts Stadium.

Fay Stretch, who is the marketing manager of Wendy's Te Atatu, made the gesture after hearing the team's management could not buy the bare necessities for the players, including separate drink bottles, sports bags and food for after the match.

"I heard that they didn't have anything; they've got absolutely nothing," said Ms Stretch.

"I was just worried they weren't getting anything to eat."

The team's bus driver, Anton Swart, told the Herald management had told him they were finding it difficult to cope financially.

"It's about giving them a break. I've heard their stories and they're struggling with funds and in terms of sponsorship," said Mr Swart. "Basically, what you see them turn up at the courts with is everything they'vegot."

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The Johannesburg native, who has lived in Auckland for eight years, said he and other bus drivers were helping out other financially troubled netball teams by doing laundry runs and buying food.

But the Malawi team's assistant manager, Lekeni Kafwafwa, said the rumours of the Government-funded side being short of money "simply are not true". She said the side received daily allowances and funding from private companies, although she would not say how much.

"Everyone thinks just because we are African that we are poor, but this is certainly not the case."

Ms Kafwafwa, a newsreader and sports producer for Malawi Television, said the team were focusing on a fifth placing at the world champs and had not had time to fully enjoy the sights of Auckland.

"I think a few of the players want to go shopping - their focus from day one here has been netball so they haven't been able to get out, butit would be good for them toloosen up a bit at the end of it."

Ms Kafwafwa said their performances at the championships were big news in their country and netball was making its mark against soccer, Malawi's most popular sport.

The tiny African nation, which has a population of about 13 million, is poverty-stricken, and life expectancy for females is only 40 years.

The team missed the last world championships in Jamaica because of a lack of funding.

For these championships, the team received specially made uniforms for the first time.

ECUH-Recycling grows fruit trees/Malawi +pic

Local recycling initiative will grow 85,000 fruit trees in Malawi

Environmental film maker Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek is asking everybody in Omagh to recycle their aluminium cans to help grow 85,000 fruit trees in Malawi.

Omagh District Council has signed up to the scheme which promises to grow a fruit tree in Malawi for every tonne of aluminium drinks cans recycled over the next two years, so the more we all recycle, the more trees will be grown. Around half the trees, such as guava and paw paw, will be grown from seed at 75 community nurseries. The remainder will be improved orange, lemon, mango and avocado trees - grafted on to wild rootstock in new greenhouses purpose built for the project.

The initiative is being run by not for profit organisation Alupro in partnership with British charity Ripple Africa in a bid to tackle de-forestation, improve nutrition and, as crop volumes improve, establish new businesses for fruit drying and juicing.

Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek said, "The potential for the project to make a real difference to building a sustainable future in Malawi is enormous. At the moment the only improved fruit trees in the area are imported in very small numbers from South Africa, so combining a source of good fruit tree stock with training at Ripple Africa's demonstration nursery is going to help a lot of people."

Charlotte added, "The great thing to remember is that the aluminium cans you recycle, the more fruit trees will be grown in Malawi."

Recycling aluminium is twenty times more efficient than making it from the raw material, bauxite, so getting the recycling habit saves massive amounts of energy, and will now also help reach the target of growing 85,000 in rural Malawi.

England to face Australia in semis

As expected Australia will face England in the Netball World Championship semi-finals in Auckland.

Both sides had comfortable victories on Thursday - England defeated Malawi 81-37, while Australia accounted for minnows the Cook Islands 90-22.

Jamaica have won through as well after a 73-42 win over Samoa. The Sunshine Girls will face the Silver Ferns in the other semi-final on Friday.

Elsewhere, Netball World Championship newcomers Botswana are through to the bottom eight grand final.

They have continued their surprise run by defeating Trinidad and Tobago 39-38 and will now face Fiji, who downed Wales 68-36.

In the battle for 11th and 12th, Trinidad & Tobago will take on Wales with Barbados facing Scotland for 13th and 14th, while Singapore play Malaysia for 15th and 16th.