Madonna to open Malawian orphanage

Madonna plans to open an orphanage in Malawi.

The 'Celebration' singer - who adopted five-year-old son David from the African country in 2006, followed by six-year-old daughter Mercy in 2009 - wants to redouble her efforts to aid orphaned children by opening a new centre as well as giving financial support to current ones.

Speaking in new TV documentary 'American Revolutionaries: The Hitmakers', she said: "My short term goals are to build an orphan care centre that will service and reach at least 1,000 children and I'm also actively involved in funding several orphanages that already exist."

However, Madonna's aspirations for the country were dealt a blow earlier this year after her plans to build a school for girls were "discontinued".

The 52-year-old star had pledged to build an academy following her adoption of David in 2006, but the $3.8 million she had put into the project through her charitable foundation Raising Malawi failed to develop into an educational establishment.

Madonna - who also has biological children Lourdes, 14, and 10-year-old Rocco - admitted she was "frustrated" at the development because of the lack of education in the country.

She said in a statement: "There is a real education crisis in Malawi, 67 per cent of girls don't go to secondary school.

"Our team is going to work hard to address this in every way we can."