Acworth United Methodist Church in the US donates 2 houses, relief food to flood victims in Chikwawa

US based Acworth United Methodist Church has distributed food items to over 100 households who were affected by floods in Group Village Headman Kaputeni in Chikwawa district.

The church also officially handed over two houses it constructed for two members of the community whose houses were destroyed by the devastating floods.

Malawi, mainly in the Southern Region experienced a lot of rain in 2014/15 rainy season and this resulted in flooding of streams which destroyed crops and houses.

Kaputeni village was largely villages affected by 2014/15 floods in Malawi. The village suffered floods due to swelling of Mwamphazi River which originates from Shire Highlands.

The floods caused damage to crops and some houses collapsed. The gardens on the banks of the river filled up with sand almost 2 meters deep rendering the area difficult for plants to grow.

Basically, the floods displaced hundreds of thousands and led Malawi President Arthur Peter Mutharika to declare a state of national disaster.
When Roseby and George Vokhiwa who have settled in Acworth for a longtime, heard about the plight of their village back at home, they approached the Acworth community asking for relief for their relatives and family Back at home.

Mrs Roseby Vokhiwa hails from Kaputeni village and also happens to be the niece to the current Village headwoman. Knowing that the floods affected their relatives and seeing the need to help, the Vokhiwa family approached Mrs Shirley Rose, their church-mate at Acworth for advice and assistance.
Touched with the situation, Mrs Shirley Rose, resorted to Organising Jumble sales with Acworth Methodist Church members, has been sending money for almost a year to assist the flood victims.

To date She has donated about USD9908 (K5,408,618.56) and were used to procured food items like maize flour, rice and beans which have been distributed to the affected villagers.

The initiative has seen four food distribution exercises taking place in the area.
Apart from financing the construction of two houses in question and three pit latrine toilets—one at an orphanage in Zomba and two in Kaputeni village, the funds were also used to connect electricity at Mfera Primary School in the area.

And last Saturday, over 100 households from the village were all smiles when they received K25kg of maize each. They also received beans and pigeon peas.

The church’s representatives carried with them 50 50kgs of maize, 3 bags of pigeon peas and 2 bags of beans.
Group Village Headman Kaputeni hailed Shirley Rose’s kind heart and urged those with better financial muscle to borrow a leaf from her “worth emulating gesture”.

“Am short of words; the donation is a true reflection of her kind heart and we are very thankful. My subjects are equally happy and looks forward to more support,” said Kaputeni.