Ben Phiri reach the vulnerable: Thyolo Central Youth Service Week gains ground

When ruling Democratic Progressive Party  (DPP) official Ben Malunga Phiri hatched the idea of Youth Service Week in Thyolo Central Constituency, only few would have guessed right on the kind of impact the initiative was going to bring.

The program commenced on a satisfactory note on August 21 and in no time it has become talk of the whole constituency.

On the third day an elderly woman in Namiwa Village had her roof fixed, an orphan in Beula Village was receiving clothes and groceries while a sick person in Sitima village was having his premises tendered.

Village by village, the program is reaching out to those with little or no capacity and strength to fend for themselves.

Phiri says he is gratified that the initiative is bearing fruits as it targets those in dire need.

“The people we have reached are in the bracket of poor of the poorest and can’t even afford to buy grass for thatching their houses. These are old people and when rains come they can’t sleep because their houses leak profusely. It’s nice to see lives change within such a short period of time,” Phiri says.

At community level, a bridge is fixed here, a road paved there and a water well cemented right there. No one has been spared as every corner of the constituency stands to gain from the service week.

Since the program commenced on August 21, close to 50 households have been reached by the youth service week with Phiri himself in the thick of things and the target is to reach out to 100 households.

Phiri observes that the initiative is a credible intervention by communities to help the poor and develop their respective areas without first expecting help from government.

“Thyolo Central constituency has demonstrated so well that we have solutions to our problems within our own communities. The seven days of community service by our youth have transformed the area in a way we never imagined. We are doing all this while waiting for government programs to reach us through the district assembly,” says Phiri who is tipped  to win the DPP primaries and Parliamentary polls in 2019.

Some of the villages so far reached are Namiwa, Beula, Sitima, Chibwana, Mbeluko, Khave, Kausuka 1, Kausuka 2 and Namiwa.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :