Emfeni Total Filling Station in Mzimba has donated K200 000 towards this year’s Mother’s Day Fun Run that will take place next month in Mzimba District.
Mothers’ Day Fun Run is one of Nation Publications Limited (NPL) corporate social responsibility projects established under the media house’s nation-building agenda.
It was launched in 2005 to promote safe motherhood and fight maternal and infant deaths through provision of the much-needed healthcare items to government hospitals and health centres nationwide.
Speaking after presenting the cheque on Wednesday at NPL offices in Mzuzu, the filling station’s director, Martha Kachali, said the donation was made to help Mzimba women who struggle to access maternal health services.
“As residents of Mzimba, we have seen women walk long distances to the hospital and, sometimes, they find no drugs at the district hospital. We have seen women and children die during delivery due to lack of hospital supplies. The donation is meant to lessen such problems,” said Kachali, wife to former vice-president Khumbo Kachali.
Statistics from the district hospital indicate that 19 babies and two mothers die each month.
Kachali said Emfeni Filling Station, which is situated at Mzimba Boma, has been supporting locals with fuel to travel to Mzuzu when the district hospital was grappling with inadequate funding to purchase fuel for ambulances.
She advised other businesspersons or individuals in the district and the nation at large to join the noble cause of saving lives of women and children.
NPL Mzuzu Bureau Supervisor Joseph Mwale, who received the cheque on behalf of NPL, said time has come for all sectors of society to join hands in promoting safe motherhood.
The Mothers’ Day Fun Run is held on a rotational basis every year and the beneficiaries are selected are those in districts with the highest maternal and infant mortality rates. n
