By Mc Donald Chapalapata, a Contributor
National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has donated K1.3 million towards the Rotary Club of Lilongwe fund raising golf tournament slated for this coming Saturday at the Lilongwe Golf Club.
Rotary Club of Lilongwe wants to raise funds to finance a dental camp for patients who would ordinarily not afford such services and also sponsor an essay competition for students in National Peace Building to avoid conflict
Presenting the donation in Lilongwe on Thursday, NBM plc Service Centre Manager for Lilongwe Service Centre Eric Bob Munthali said as ‘the Bank of the Nation’, NBM plc is proud to be part of initiatives which provides for humanitarian service to ensure the promotion of good will and peace in the country.
“The Bank acknowledges the importance of dental health care and the fact that access to this service is often a challenge especially to the less privileged. We also agree with the Rotary club that the essay competition will enhance development of the students into future leaders who will value the need to build a peaceful nation because they will have started thinking about peace initiatives at an early stage,” said Munthali.
“National Bank is always involved in humanitarian service through various Corporate Social Responsibility programs, the reason we decided to contribute K1.3 million towards the two initiatives,” added Munthali.
Speaking on behalf of the Rotary Club of Lilongwe, past president Nurul Amin said the dental camp is an annual event where they arrange a dental camp to assist communities within Lilongwe to access dental treatment free of charge and 1, 300 people benefited from targeted initial number of 1,200 adding that this year they are targeting to help 1,500 people.
“We need to start grooming future leaders now. This essay competition on peace building will ensure that we have future leaders in touch with realities and who also had enough time to think through the challenges we face and their possible solutions,” said Amin.
“Therefore, we are grateful to NBM plc for the sponsorship of this golf tournament during this difficult period. We have had a long standing relationship of support from National Bank. However and particularly this year, we don’t take this gesture for granted. The covid-19 pandemic has affected the bottom line of many organisations,” said Amin.
He also hailed the Bank for sponsoring two teams for the golf tournament.
“The funds raised will go a long way to putting a smile to the less privileged in our society,” said Amin.
