By Martin Gera Jnr
The Association of Malawians in Ireland (AMI) on Friday October 28, 2022 donated assorted non-food items to survivors of floods which were aggravated by Cyclones Ana and Gombe earlier this year.
The donation was sent to the people through the Diocese of Chikwawa.
In a separate interview, AMI President Henry Mkumbira Phiri, said they made the donation of the items after being informed of the challenges being experienced by t survivors long after the disaster struck.
Phiri said they have been receiving letters from the Diocese calling for their humanitarian intervention.
symbolic hand-over of the items
“After we received letters requesting us to respond to survivors by Father Matthews Semba, we mobilized resources from Malawians based here in Ireland including communities from this country and I am pleased that we have sent clothes and shoes worth 850, 500 Euros which is about K9 million.
“This is not the first time to respond because in 2021 we donated about K1.4 million for intervention of stopping further spread of Covid – 19 and currently we are constructing a house to a vulnerable woman in Mangochi only identified as Gogo-Wetu to a tune of K4 million and we anticipate to hand it over mid-November this year,”Phiri said
He further recognized the hands of several other partners involved including KNG Logistics for transporting the cargo for free from Ireland to Malawi, the Irish Embassy for receiving the items and facilitating its delivery to the Diocese of Chikwawa.
Upon receiving the donation, Human Resources and Administrative Officer for the Social services Directorate of the Diocese of Chikwawa, Rosatta Lemani, expressed gratitude for the response adding that it will go a long way to address some challenges among the survivors.
Lemani expressed gratitude having received the donated items
“Despite that survivors of disasters were relocated upland they are still lacking many things ranging from food and non-food items since they lost almost everything to the disasters so this gesture has come at a right time to a survivor who is in dire need of it.
“I appeal to other well-wishers to come forward to support them with food and some farm inputs so that they can plant and eventually be food secure.
“You know Chikwawa and Nsanje are some of the districts facing food shortages specifically due to the disasters,” she said.
In Chikwawa district about 86, 944 households were affected by both cyclone Tropical Ana and Gombe and about 31, 945 households were those affected by the same in Nsanje district.
