MADONNA LEAVES MALAWI AFTER WEEK'S CHARITY TOUR

LILONGWE, Malawi - Madonna has left Malawi after a nearly weeklong visit with her family, airport and charity officials said Saturday.

Officials said Madonna flew out of the southern African country on Friday. The 51-year-old celebrity arrived in the impoverished country on Sunday accompanied by her four children - daughters Lourdes and Mercy, and sons Rocco and David. Mercy and David were adopted from Malawi.

While in Malawi, she broke ground for her $15 million Raising Malawi Academy for Girls and visited the orphanage that cared for her son David before she adopted him.

Madonna's Raising Malawi, a charity founded in 2006 when she first visited the country, helps feed, educate and provide medical care for some of Malawi's orphans.

Malawi, a nation of 12 million, is one of the poorest countries in the world. About 500,000 children have lost a parent to AIDS.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/10/31/entertainment-af-malawi-madonna_7070783.html