The Girl Madonna Didn't Adopt

What exactly is going on with this whole Madonna adopting a baby story?

First, Madonna was supposed to have picked out a one-year-old orphan from the impoverished African nation of Malawi to adopt (being adopted by a rich white female celebrity is now the African equivalent of winning the lottery). Then we were told that Madonna wasn't adopting anyone, and was just there to support some kind of charitable foundation dedicated to one-upping Angelina Jolie helping the poor starving AIDS victims. Now, word is coming out of a young Malawi girl named Mpheso Ngulube, who was supposedly told by officials that a famous, rich lady from another country was coming to take her away - this despite the fact that Mpheso is actually eleven, older than what Madonna is supposedly shopping for, and isn't actually an orphan because she still has a mother.

Quoting the story:

Mpheso told yesterday how she and other children had been told to gather at the nearby Consol Home Orphanage, which is sponsored by Madonna. There they were questioned by a "group of smartly-dressed white men" who arrived in gleaming four-wheel drive vehicles.

"They asked how I would feel about going to live in another country,' recalled Mpheso.

"They said I would become friends with another girl, whose name sounded like Lodess." (Madonna's nine-year-old daughter is called Lourdes).

"They smiled a lot and said I was very smart. They asked what I wanted to do when I grow up. I told them a nurse. They said I could be anything I wanted.

"They said someone would arrive soon to prepare me for the trip, but no one has come."

That's pretty heartbreaking. I mean, that's almost Sally Struthers material.

Stop teasing the poor people Madonna. I know it's fun for you, but really...