BLANTYRE, Malawi -- A Malawian man who gave up his 13-month-old son to be adopted by Madonna said Sunday he had not realized he was signing away custody "for good."
Yohane Banda signed adoption papers earlier this month, clearing the way for a Malawian judge to grant the pop singer and her husband a temporary order to take his son David.
"Our understanding was that they would educate and take care of our son just as they were doing at the orphanage," the 32-year-old illiterate peasant farmer told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from Lipunga, the village where he ekes out a living growing onions and tomatoes.
Until now, Banda has said his decision was in the best interests of his motherless son and criticized local charities who have started legal proceedings to challenge the adoption.
Banda said his understanding was that "when David grows up he will return back home to his village." He said the director of Child Welfare Services, Penston Kilembe, and the retired pastor who heads the orphanage where David spent most of his life never told him by "adoption" it meant David will cease to be his son.
Banda said he was illiterate and so had no idea of the significance of the adoption papers he signed in the High Court in the capital, Lilongwe.
Madonna's Malawian lawyer Alan Chinula refused to comment, saying his clients have not given him any fresh instructions, but he insisted the singer followed all the procedures to adopt the child.
Madonna, who came to Malawi on Oct.
4 with her husband, the British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, spent eight days visiting six orphanages she is funding through her Raising Malawi charity. She is also establishing an orphanage for up to 4,000 children in a village outside the capital.
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