All Africa Conference calls for enhanced response to cyclone survivors
All-African Conference Sister to Sister (AAC:SS) – a group within the Roman Catholic Church – has asked the Government of Malawi to devise sustainable mechanisms for building resilience of the survivors of Cyclone Freddy.
AAC:SS supports the initiatives of women religious in sub-Saharan Africa that respond to emerging needs and educates and inspires all people to share responsibility for a world in need of healing and love.
The organization draws its membership from women religious and partners who collaborate globally to enhance their capacity as leaders in church and society and to improve the lives of others.
Recently, the group has been reaching out to Tropical Cyclone Freddy survivors in a number of ways, including provision of relief items and psychosocial support.
Speaking at the opening of an advocacy training in Lilongwe, AAC:SS Senior Programmes Officer, Sister Eneless Chimbali, said it was said that the needs of the survivors are still enormous, close to a year after the tropical storm hit Malawi.
“All-Africa Conference is working in the African continent connecting the countries in Africa such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, South Africa and Malawi. From what I’ve observed with our sisters here working on the ground, I think we’re doing badly, especially in the recovery process,” said Chimbali.
She further expressed disappointment with the slow pace at which the government and its partners are rebuilding damaged infrastructure.
“It’s sad that basic things such as roads are still the same way they were before the cyclone. We don’t have houses and there’s nothing much that has happened. So it’s very sad,” she said.
Chimbali appealed to the authorities in government to come out in the open if it does not have the resources so that the partners can complement its efforts by mobilizing the resources from their donors.
“As for us as sisters, we feel bad because they don’t come to our houses. Sometimes it’s very difficult for us to reach out to them. But it’s not enough because these people need to survive and they need to go back to their normal life and cannot continue these people. Other things that need to be done by the governing body to be solid, and if they don’t have medicine in the hospitals and they’re sick from consumption. We need something that the government cannot manage,” she narrated.
In her remarks, the Chairperson for the Association of Women Religious Institute in Malawi (AWRIM), Sister Agnes Jonas, said the training has been organized to equip stakeholders involved with advocacy skills to help them meaningfully engage the government and stakeholders towards reducing the plight of those affected.
“What we have discovered is that what we have done so far is not enough. And we want to believe that the government can do much more from where we live.
So, we want our stakeholders to be advocates for the marginalized, for the poor, for the needy, they should be able to talk to the government and we make them aware how these people are suffering and what else they can do.
We know that the government is done. We feel if not enough they should expend their energy, their resources, and the ideas to people who are still dying on the ground. So we want our sisters to advocate to speak on behalf of these people,” said Jonas.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :