DAVID BANDA'S GRANDMOTHER DIESAsineti Mwale, the 60-year-old woman who helped raise Madonna's adopted son David Banda in his native Malawi, has passed away.
She died Sunday of pneumonia, Wiseman Zimba, a cousin to David's biological father Yohane Banda, tells Usmagazine.com.
"Mama Asineti died last night," he says. "Burial is [Tuesday]."
Mwale helped take care of little David after his biological mother, Marita, died a week after his September 2005 birth.
So poor they could not afford formula milk, Mwale and Yohane agreed to give the boy to the Home of Hope Orphanage.
Madonna found the boy at the orphanage through her Raising Malawi charity and was later granted temporary custody.
The High Court in the capital of Lilongwe approved the adoption this past May after a two-year battle.
Mwale, who wholeheartedly approved the adoption, died before she fulfilled her wish to see how David was fairing with the mega-star.
In her last interview last month when Yohane Banda's new wife, Flora, gave birth to another son, Mwale said: "I wish David would come to see me before I die. I hope he will one day come to see his brother."
See photos of celebs who have adopted. Usmagazine |