About 1 000 needy villagers in Sub-Traditional Authority (S-T/A) in Chikwawa district on Sunday braved a heavy downpour to receive, through the Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM), relief maize from African Continent Committee of Heritage Revival Islamic Society from the State of Kuwait.
The donation was in form of 500 x 50-kilogramme bags of maize worth K10 million and was meant for people still suffering from effects of last year’s floods, which also affected 14 other districts in the country. Masache area was one of the most hit areas in the district and some of its villagers seeking refuge at Tchereni Primary School where the beneficiaries received the maize on Sunday.
Chairperson of the continental committee, Jasem Mohamad Aleinati, pledged continued assistance to the affected people, depending on availability resources.
“We were concerned about the traumatising situations Malawians went through last year and because of that we came and provided some assistance.
“We want to assure the affected people and the Government of Malawi that the committee is still with them until the situation improves,” said Aleinati.
He asked the beneficiaries to continue praying to God to provide the committee with enough resources enable them to continue reaching out to the needy.
MAM chairperson Sheikh Idrissah Muhammad hailed the committee for its response to the flood victims. He said the donations were for all affected people regardless of their faith.
“You could have gone somewhere in Africa since you have assisted us many times before, but you chose to still come again to Malawi. Last year, you were here in Malawi making similar donations in various districts.
“Apart from supporting hunger-stricken families, MAM is also supporting communities in other areas, including education, health and religion through teachings of Zakaat, which is the third pillar of the Islamic religion,” said Muhammad.
He attributed the support from the Arabic countries to the cordial relationship MAM has maintained with the Malawi Government and foreign agencies since he was elected in 2011.
Group village head Lombe in S/TA Masache thanked MAM and the African Continent Committee for their support.
“What has touched my heart most is that the committee and MAM are Muslim-related institutions while most of us beneficiaries are non-Muslims,” said Lombe.
The committee said it will soon make similar donations to other needy communities in Chiradzulu, Neno, Mwanza, Dowa and Mchinji districts.
