40 Mulanje women receive sewing machines: Nankhumwa hails Muslim’s AQSA for ‘incredible charity work’

Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Mulanje Central lawmaker Kondwani Nankhumwa has hailed the Attariqutul Qadria Sunni Association (AQSA)for its various charitable activities that aimed to improve people’s welfare, particularly in the rural areas.

“It is incredible work that AQSA is doing here in Mulanje and the entire country; it makes a whole lot of difference to the people,” said Nankhumwa who was Guest of Honour at Khaya Primary School Ground on Thursday, September 17, 2020 during the graduation ceremony for 40 women drawn from his Mulanje Central constituency following an AQSA-sponsored intensive tailoring training at Chinakanaka.

Nankhumwa presided over the handing over of 40 state-of-the-art sewing machines that AQSA has given to each woman as a business starter pack. He also presented the graduating women with certificates.

The opposition leader commended AQSA and the Muslim community in the country for complementing the government’s efforts to reduce poverty rampant among rural communities.

“Our former President His Excellency Professor Mutharika championed and promoted the idea of community technical colleges to empower the youths of this country. His vision was to increase access to technical, entrepreneurial and vocational education and training by out-of-school youth and adults in order that when they graduate they could establish their own businesses and employ others.

“The training and sewing machines that AQSA has offered to our women will go a long way in improving their families’ livelihoods because they will set up tailoring business in the respective areas,” said Nankhumwa.

He said there is an adage “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.

“What AQSA has done today is to teach our women to fish. For that I am deeply grateful as their MP,” he said, pledging to give the women hundreds of metres of cloth with which to start off their business.

Mulanje AQSA coordinator Sheikh Ibrahim Kumchisa said apart from the tailoring training, which has seen thousands of women benefitting across the country, AQSA is also involved in repairing boreholes, organizing Muslims’’ annual Ziyarah Parade, prison programmes, reforestation, managing Madrasahs and nursery schools, among others.

AQSA main council representative Sheikh Abdulrazak Liwonde thanked Nankhumwa for making time to attend “this very important and colourful ceremony”. He also thanked the leadership of AQSA including Chairman Faizal Aboo for their kind heartedness.

Sheikh Liwonde expressed pleasure at the co-existence between Muslims and Christians in the country, disclosing that out of the 40 graduating women, 30 were of the Christian faith and the rest Muslims.

“So you can see that as Muslims, we believe in love and unity among all faiths. We revere the same one God and therefore there is no need for segregation,” he said.

Other speakers included Group Village Headman Mmina and T/A Mthiramanja.