MALAWI: Church Appeals for Support for Cyclone Freddy Affected Families
Archbishop Thomas Msusa seen visiting the Cyclone survivors at Nguludi Hospital
Stella Zulu
The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has called on well-wishers in and outside of the country to help devastated Cyclone Freddy affected people in the Southern part of Malawi due to the great damage and loss of lives and property they have gone through.
On 13 March 2023, the President of Malawi declared a State of Disaster in Southern Malawi following disasters causes by Tropical Cyclone Freddy in badly hit southern districts.
In a statement released on 14th March, 2023, the ECM has called on all people, especially those in flood and disaster-prone areas to move to safer grounds, be alert and pay heed to official warnings and instructions that are coming from the meteorogical and weather experts.
“Let’s be each other’s keeper and report all incidences relating to the devastating Cyclone Freddy. The conference further urges all Catholics and all people of good will to stand and feel with the victims and immediately start to donate whatever they can, in form of money and in kind to help the victims who are suffering from the effects of the Cyclone”. Reads the statement
For effective delivery of the donations to the victims, the Church in Malawi has tasked the Catholic Development Commission (Caritas Malawi) to coordinate and lead the exercise and make sure distribution is done as soon as possible so that people are alleviated from the struggle they are going through.
“For order and for accountability, the Bishops Conference of Malawi is appealing that all donations made in the name of the Catholic Church be made through recognizable Church structures like the Small Christian communities, Outstation Churches, Parishes and Diocesan Administration Offices who will send the donations to diocesan and National Caritas offices,” continues the statement.
According to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DODMA) update, a total of 19,676 households have been affected, 225 deaths have been recorded, with 41 people still missing and 707 people injured. A lot of Livestock has also been washed away and access to water supply, electricity and internet has also been heavily affected which has also affected economic activities in the country.
Some of the badly hit districts include Blantyre, Mulanje, Phalomba, Chikwawa, Nsanje, Chiradzulu, Thyolo, Mangochi and Zomba. A total of 172 camps have been set up across the region to give temporally shelter to approximately 88,312 Malawians who have been displaced.
