Following disastrous effects of Cyclone Idai which hit Malawi early 2019, Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi – CONGOMA appealed to its members and mobilised relief Support items worthy 13 Million Malawi Kwacha which got donated on 18 April, 2019. This came after the State President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika had declared State of Disaster in areas hit by heavy rains and floods in the country.
The relief items were donated in Zomba District specifically at Pemba and Saima Camps in Traditional Authority Mwambo where over 200 households were reached. These items included blankets, clothing, maize flour, sugar, salt, tablets of soap, buckets, Likuni Phala for porridge, soya pieces and medical supplies.
Before the distribution of other relief items, Medical supplies amounting to two Million Malawi kwacha were donated first at Zomba District Health Office. Receiving the Medical Supplies on behalf of members of staff at the hospital, District Medical Officer Dr Wilson Ching’ani thanked CONGOMA for the medical supplies and emphasized that the Medical Supplies were most wanted at the District Hospital.
In response, CONGOMA Governing Council representative Mr. Happy Makala, thanked all NGOs that contributed towards the success of the support. He then called for prudence in the utilization of the medical supplies.
Later during the day, people from the two camps of Pemba and Saima gathered at Ntonda Primary School where each house hold received the following quantity of relief items: 2kgs Sugar, 20kg Maize Flour, Blanket, 1kg Salt, 2.5kgs Likuni Phala, 5 packets of 500g Soya Pieces, 10 tablets of 90g Soap, 40 Litres bucket and 10 pieces of clothes.
Representing Donating NGOs at the function, a top official from Goods for Good Constance Hauya emphasized on good usage of the donated items among the households that received the items.
Taking his turn, CONGOMA Governing Council Representative Mr. Happy Makala thanked donating Institutions, CONGOMA Secretariat, Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) and Zomba District Council for their efforts in ensuring the relief distribution took place. He therefore advised the citizens who were to receive the relief items to put them to good use. He also encouraged other organisations to come forward and assist the cyclone victims.
Welcoming the support, representative of Zomba District Council and DODMA Mr. Young Chiwindo, appreciated the support and called for more relief items to suit diverse needs of the victims.
Concurring with Mr. Chiwindo, Group village Headman, Mr. Godfrey appreciated the relief items and promised that they would be put in good use. This was also highlighted after random interviews were done with various recipients of the relief items on the day of distribution. Cyclone victims from the two camps heaped praise on CONGOMA being the first responder, for coming to their rescue. They promised to put the items to good use as they were both intensely affected and poverty stricken.
The relief Support items donated were collected from the following Organisations; Goods for Good, Little Dresses for Africa, Love Support and Unite, Children and Pastors Care Ministry, Total Land Care Malawi, PACENET, Malawi Association of Counseling, Eva Demaya Centre, Malawi Electoral Support Network (MESN) and CONGOMA.
CONGOMA is aware there were large number of NGOs that did not go through CONGOMA to donate or serve the disaster victims. CONGOMA commends such NGOs for timely coming to the rescue of needy households. What may be needed is in future is to have a stronger NGO Coordination mechanism to around this problem. At the same time, there is need to find a lasting solution for addressing the problem of flood victims. Ways should be found to permanently move house-holds out of flood prone areas or permanently harvest flood water for home or infrastructural use.