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10月份，全世界几十亿人都知道了马拉维的一岁男孩戴维。而仅仅一个月前，大概还有很多人从来没听说过戴维的祖国，一个与莫桑比克、赞比亚和坦桑尼亚接壤的仅有1300万人口的非洲内陆国家。而突然之间，戴维就变成了世界上最知名的马拉维人，因为他有幸被麦当娜领养，而电视镜头见了麦当娜就像狗熊见了蜂蜜一样疯狂。
但戴维确实好运吗？戴维的父亲尤罕·邦达（Yohane Banda）眨眼间成了知名人物，他说他原来不知道儿子将不再属于自己，也不知道儿子可能再也不会回到马拉维。麦当娜说尽管她听不懂邦达的语言，但邦达当时绝对不是的这样的说法。人们也开始询问，把孩子从父亲身边带走好吗？人权倡议者开始提起诉讼，要求戴维回到自己的祖国。
戴维的母亲已经离开了人世。她去世后，戴维的父亲边种菜边干零活，根本无法照顾戴维，不得已把他送进了孤儿院。在遇到麦当娜之前，小戴维与500多个孩子在孤儿院共同生活。因为马拉维国内HIV/艾滋病肆虐，使那里的孤儿人数超过了100万。而孤儿院的条件非常有限，院里的很多孩子都活不过5岁。麦当娜说他见到戴维时，他正患有严重的肺炎，连呼吸都非常困难。
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