Radio Maria in global initiative
Radio Maria Malawi on Friday joined sister radio stations in a global Catholic initiative that seeks to raise funds for the establishment of Radio Maria stations in countries that currently do not have the broadcaster.
The event, which ends today, dubbed Mariathon, is a combination of the name of the holy mother Mary and marathon.
Mariathon is a worldwide sporting activity, but is used in the Catholic Church to raise money to fulfil some evangelical tasks that Radio Maria undertakes.
Media relations secretary for the event, Francis Banda, said the fundraising initiative is expected to raise K2 million (about $5 000) which will be deposited into the World Family of Radio Maria account as Malawi’s contribution towards the implementation of the project.
“Radio Maria Malawi is a member of the World Family of Radio Maria and we started our operations on 24 August 1999 with the noble aim of spreading the word of God to all,” said Banda.
He said there are six countries in Africa alone in need of the radio station. According to Banda, the countries are Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Guinea, Madagascar, Liberia, Mali and Nigeria.
“In Asia, the countries are China-Macao and India. In Europe, the countries are Ireland and Latvia while in America it is Haiti,” he said.
He said during the three days, Radio Maria Malawi has been running special programmes such as phone-ins during which callers made pledges to support the initiative.
“We had live shows in Lilongwe and Mangochi by Alleluya Band aimed at garnishing our fundraising efforts. We also placed coin collection boxes in selected supermarkets, hotels, banks and filling stations where well-wishers were dropping their donations,” said Banda.
