By Patricia Kapulula
Lilongwe, May 12, Mana: Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) is targeting to raise K80 million during the 2022 Flag Week to support communities affected by Tropical Cyclone ANA and Gombe.
President Dr Lazarus Chakwera, who is MRCS Patron, inaugurated the Flag Week at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Thursday where he led the nation towards raising funds for Red Cross activities by making a donation of K2 million.
Chakwera said he was honoured to make his personal contribution towards the cause and called upon all Malawians to similarly contribute towards the cause.
The Head of State further called upon all citizens to do three acts of kindness whilst calling for a revolution of kindness in every place.
This year’s Flag Week is being held under the theme “Be Humankind”.
Chakwera, therefore, described the theme as important, saying it is a reminder that everybody must heed.
“The theme is a reminder that we are all members of one family, the human family, and that the divisions and conflicts we generate between us and others are manufactured.
“At the most fundamental level of our being, we are one and are sailing through this difficult world in the same boat,” he said.
Chakwera further emphasised on the need for the nation not to allow the challenges faced together or the afflictions experienced individually, to rob the people of capacity for kindness to everyone.
In his remarks, MRCS President, Innocent Majiya, said the COVID-19 pandemic and, Tropical Cyclone ANA and Gombe hit the vulnerable people the hardest, hence the need for them to find and be inspired by acts of kindness.
Majiya said it is in times such as these that volunteers are needed to reach out to those that are affected.
He, therefore, appealed to the corporate world to join hands with the society so that the K80 million target is realised.
“Big or small, seen or unseen, every individual’s act of kindness matters. This is why we work and volunteer for the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
“Kindness brings hope and breeds more kindness; and when all of these small local actions multiply, the impact can be global,” he said.
Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, expressed gratitude to MRCS for the support to the vulnerable as well as to Malawi Government.
She, therefore, called for collective responsibility in acts of kindness by supporting the society achieve its goal.
The National Flag Week, which is held to raise funds for various Red Cross Society activities, follows commemoration of the Red Crescent Day which falls on May 8, every year.
Last year, the Red Cross Flag Week was held in November instead of May because of the COVID-19 pandemic measures that were put in place to contain its further spread.
