Material Girl Madonna has been spending time in Malawi this week being extra charitable — and she brought along all six of her children to show them the benefits of helping others.
The family was in the African country for the first anniversary of the opening of the Mercy James Pediatric Hospital, which the singer founded in July 2017 and named after her 12-year-old daughter, whom she adopted from Malawi in June 2009.
In the family photograph Madonna posted on Instagram on Monday, July 16, she stands with her six children in front of a large mural at the hospital that was painted by the orphaned children from Malawi’s Jacaranda School.
The mural, which the entertainer called “Tree of Life,” features a large tree with all kinds of colorful birds perched on its branches.
The 59-year-old mother, wearing a blue-and-white dress with red accents and a white hat, stands in the center of her family in the snapshot.
To her immediate left is Mercy, looking all grown-up in a long black dress with a white print.
Mercy’s big brother, Rocco Ritchie, is on the end, with his arm around his sister’s shoulder. The 17-year-old biological child of Madonna and her ex-husband, movie director and producer Guy Ritchie, is sporting a black hoodie and jeans.
On the erstwhile actress’ immediate right is the first child she adopted from Malawi, super tall 12-year-old David Banda, who is wearing a black sweater with a white collared shirt underneath and blue jeans.
Next to him is her eldest child, biological daughter Lourdes Leon. The 21-year-old, whose father is one of Madonna’s ex-boyfriends, Carlos Leon, is wearing a black sweater over a black top and black-and-white skirt.
Standing in front of everyone are Madonna’s youngest kids, twins Estere and Stella. The 5-year-olds, also adopted from Malawi, are wearing matching outfits, bright yellow sweaters over white dresses with a print on them.
Except for one of the twins, everyone in the snapshot is smiling, looking genuinely happy.
Madonna posted other pics and videos from her Malawi trip on Instagram page, including one photo of her talking to the press about the Mercy James Pediatric Hospital, which she called “the only pediatric hospital of its kind”; a snap in which she is wearing scrubs and standing with a doctor and nurse from the hospital; a video of her twins walking around with old friends from their orphanage; and a clip of children in the village singing.
“I love when my kids are in Africa,” Madonna told People in 2017. “Their selfless behavior, compared to the normal complaining in the privileged world we live in, is great to see.”