I have often realized that I must be missing the gene that would compel me to keep abreast of the big celebrity issues the world faces (ahem.) However, in this case the buzz is international, deafening, and some points being made so ridiculous, even I have a hard time ignoring it under the rock by the ocean where I am currently living. So here I am, entering the fray, at least for a minute: the Madonna adoption.

No matter how many different "sides" of the story I hear, I can’t figure out what is upsetting people the most and what are the "real" issues. Is it that the boy has a father alive and in contact with him? Is it that the father was unable to take care of/provide for the boy and so put the boy in the orphanage for better care? Is it that that father is willing to have his son adopted by a very wealthy American who he perceives can give his boy a better life than he himself could? Is it that a celebrity is using her status and power to pull strings to get things done faster? Is it that the whole kitsch of the apparent celebrity effort to "save" Africa one adoption at a time is just a bit much to take? Is it that the little boy has become a pawn being pushed around the board that is, let’s face it folks, his LIFE, by various people that had never even heard of Malawi a month or so ago, people that have no concept of what his life was, is and could be,Madonna adoption aside? Are there really any human rights issues here or was that just the best way a small pond fish could swim his way into the big international human rights pond?

I’ll stop here for now, because I realize as I write there are just too many ridiculous possiblities of focus and they get more ridiculous as the day that dawned on this topic gets longer and longer. In the next few blogs, I would like to take a different look at some of the ‘issues’ mentioned above.

While I am adopted, that is not why I get aggravated about this whole situation and feel the need to say something. It is more because of having been so long in Africa, including Malawi, that I feel quite protective when decisions are being made, opinions being given, that effect Africa and her people by those who really have no sense of the context for which they are making decisions. Something, I think, is amiss at the Circle K.