People of the South

Madonna at a ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Raising Malawi Girls’ Academy in Chinkhota in 2010. it never got built. Photograph: Nick Obank/Barcroft Media

When Madonna came here to cut a ribbon and plant a tree at a groundbreaking ceremony in 2009, hopes were high for her $15m (£9.4m) elite academy for girls. Three years later, the site looks like a quarried mine, with little activity beyond footballers kicking a ball around.

Madonna’s plan was scrapped last year without a brick being laid. Now Malawi has come up with an alternative plan for the eyesore. It will build a monument to national heroes on the spot where the singer once promised to change hundreds of young lives.