Queen Elizabeth of Britain has awarded Malawi’s private Citizens initiative on Covid-19 the Commonwealth Points of Light Award for supporting the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

During one of his addresses on January 17 this year, President Lazarus Chakwera appealed for collective efforts in dealing with the second wave of Covid-19 which was getting out of hand, and said those who have ideas about how to better deal with it are welcome to make suggestions.

Many people heard the call and acted in different ways, but someone who stood out in his response was Stanley Onjezani Kenani, a Malawian Social media Influencer currently based in France and employed by the United Nations.

Kenani formed a group called COVID Response Private Citizens.

To facilitate the initiative Kenani wrote on his Facebook wall calling on Malawians to contribute whatever money they could to buy personal protective equipment for the country’s hospitals, which was at that time in dire need

The call received support from both local Malawians and those in the diaspora who contributed cash and others volunteering work to help the crisis.

One of the biggest donations the initiative received came from Standard Bank which provided K8 million Kwacha ($10,370).

By late January, the initiative had bought 40 oxygen cylinders and 40 flowmeters for Malawi’s four central hospitals, namely Queen Elizabeth, Kamuzu, Zomba, and Mzuzu.