Malawians in Washington raise funds for flood disaster

Concerned with the plight of their country men and women who were recently affected by devastating floods, Malawians living in the Washington DC area in the United States of America and their Southern African counterparts recently organized a fundraising cocktail night in aid of the flood victims.

The event which took place at Avante Garde in Bethesda, Maryland was a follow up to a Prayer Vigil held by WAMFRE two weeks prior where they raised $1375 for the campaign.

It was organized under the umbrella of the Washington Area Malawi Flood Relief Effort (WAMFRE). WAMFRE is a collaborative campaign comprised of registered Washington metropolitan area NGOs Malawi Washington Association (MWA), Malawi Washington Foundation (MWF) and Southern African Community USA – SACU.

Malawi Deputy Ambassador Ms Nankwenya thanked Malawians in Washington for their “contribution” to the disaster fund.

During the event close to $9,000 was raised which will be sent to Malawi. They are planning to host more events during the course of the summer to reach their campaign goal.

They have set up an account on the popular crowd funding site www.Indigogo.com website to help them continue raise funds collect funds.

And taking her turn, Ms Sitingawawo Kachipande, President of MWA, recognized that all organizations involved felt duly bound to assist Malawians in times of hardship.

She applauded all those present for their generosity and stressed that help is still needed in Malawi even though the media attention had slowed down.

Kachipande noted rather than emphasizing on the speed, the organizing committee wanted to focus on quality to ensure that the funds would not only have a greater impact, but also reach the people who needed it the most.

The committee took care to lay the ground work for proper accountability measures for a campaign that would be sustainable.

Malawians in the diaspora and worldwide have organized similar fundraising events but this one was the first event organized by Malawians in the United States.

Nearly 200 Malawians lost their lives and another 200,000 were displaced in the worst floods ever to have affected the country since independence.

Due to the effects of global warming, floods have devastated much of southern Africa but Malawi has been the worst hit. The plight of Malawians has gained the sympathies of both Malawians world-wide and friends of Malawi.

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