A Charitable Madonna

AP: Madonna is always reinventing herself. In her latest role, she is a humanitarian with an ambitious plan to care for orphans in the AIDS-ravaged African country of Malawi.

"For the last few years -- now that I have children and now that I have what I consider to be a better perspective on life -- I have felt responsible for the children of the world," the 47-year-old pop star tells Time magazine in its issue on newsstands Monday.
"I've been doing bits and bobs about it and I suppose I was looking for a big, big project I could sink my teeth into."

She has found one -- and it's as about as high-profile as her ongoing "Confessions" world tour.

Madonna plans to raise at least $3 million for programs to support orphans in Malawi, and is giving $1 million to fund a documentary about the plight of children there, Time reports.

The singer, who plans to visit Africa in October, credits her faith in Kabbalah with shifting her priorities.

"One of the main precepts of Kabbalah is that we're put on this Earth to help people," she says. "And your job is to figure out how you can help, and what it is that you can do."

An orphan care center, being built with a goal of feeding and educating about 1,000 children a day, will have programs based on Spirituality for Kids, Kabbalah's children's program, Time says.

That's not all. She has teamed up with developing-world economic leader Jeffrey Sachs on programs to improve the health, agriculture and economy of a village in Malawi, Time says. She's also met with former President Clinton about bringing low-cost medicines to the area.
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