Cori fetes mothers with disabilities

Capital Oil Refining Industries (Cori) on Friday handed out 30 bottles of cooking oil and cash to women with various disabilities, including mothers of children with albinism at a function held at the company’s premises in Chirimba, Blantyre.

Cori human resources manager Robert Mwanja said the gesture was meant to demonstrate how much the company valued people with disabilities, especially when the country was celebrating Mother’s Day which is commemorated on October 15 annually.

He said: “As a company, we thought we should mark the day by celebrating with mothers who have various physical challenges, including those who have children with albinism.

“We hope that this will send a  message out there  to people who discriminate against them. We did not want them to go out begging on the day, hence the donation.”

According to Mwanja, the company wants to join other organisations which are calling for inclusiveness for people with disabilities at a time people with albinism are living in fear of being  attacked.

Federation for Disability Organisations in Malawi (Fedoma) secretary Elizabeth Machinjiri called on various stakeholders to help the organisation to fulfil the needs of its members.

“People with disabilities are marginalised in many aspects which puts them in an awkward position economically. Most of them have been denied a chance to education and employment,” she said.

Members who benefitted from the donation included those from  Malawi Union for the Blind (MUB) and the women desk of the Albino Disability Rights Movement. n