By Abubakar Kanjoka

Kasungu, August 28, Mana: World Women Day of Prayers – Kasungu Chapter have donated various items worth K2.5 million to families at Nthunduwala Camp in Sub-Traditional Authority Nthunduwala in Kasungu West.

Making the donation on Sunday, which included maize flour, clothes, exercise books and other food stuffs, chairperson for the group, Eness Chilipapa, said the group decided to support the camp residents both spiritually and materially after noting with concern the degrading conditions at the camp.

Chilipapa said: “This year we thought it wise to cheer the residents of Nthunduwala Camp after we had seen on social media how these people are suffering.

“They lack literally everything. They have no food; they have no land to cultivate own food and their children lack resources to support them in school.”

Chilipapa said as part of celebrations and in commemoration of the global Women Day of Prayers, which occurs in the first week of March every year, we organised a day to preach the gospel and also engage in charitable work by providing some basic necessities to those in need.

The group also preached the gospel to the camp residents to give them hope and inspiration that their situation would turn around for the better in future.

“They don’t have to give up. God is watching and one day he will change their situation. We just have to keep praying for them and showing them love by supporting them with their needs. This will also reduce their stress,” she said.

Chairperson for the camp, Stanley Nkhoma, commended the group for the support, stating that it had come at the time when they had lost hope as they had nothing to eat.

“We are happy that, at least, we will eat today. Our longing is that government should allocate us land where we can stay and be able to produce our own food. We are Malawians, but we are living like refugees in our own country,” Nkhoma said.

Group Village Nthunduwala, expressed worry with the condition of the camp and urged authorities to relocate the people to a place where they can have farming land.

“The biggest challenge we have is that these people have no land where they can grow and produce their own food. The camp is too small for 650 people.

“The people are really suffering and it is my plea to authorities to quickly act on this. At least transferring them to one of the government’s general farming sites could be ideal,” he said.

Nthunduwala Camp came into existence in 2012 to temporarily host ex-tenants who were working in tobacco estates in Kasungu.