Danish students cycle for poor Malawians
Four Danish students last week cycled from Nsanje to Blantyre to raise funds for poor Malawians through Churches Action in Relief and Development (Card).
The four, Josophine Moth, Emma Guldhammer, Amalie Fischer and Stine Rinder from Silkeborg High School, who cycled under the banner Malawi on Wheels, were led by their teacher Simon Stagis.
In an interview on arrival in Blantyre, Stagis said they work hand in hand with different organisations to raise funds for needy families. He said in Malawi they have raised funds for Dan Church Aid.
Stagis further said they visited Malawi to appreciate the level of poverty among the poorest and popularise the stories when they go back home.
“We are good at fundraising in Denmark and our trip to Malawi was important because we will get the real stories that can help us fundraise and donate to Card to support the families,” he said.
The about 230-kilometre journey took the cyslists five days from Monday to Friday.
Stagis said they branched into villages and visited some solar irrigation schemes such as Tiyanjane run by Card to appreciate their relevance and talk to some farmers.
According to the team leader, the students, who are all girls, will remain in Malawi for 28 days to document poverty stories which they will use to raise funds. He said two will be based in Mwanza while the other pair will be in Nsanje.
Card executive director Melton Luhanga thanked the students for taking the challenge to cycle on hilly topography for the first time in their lives to serve the poor.
He said as a member of Actalliance, Card has benefited a lot from Denmark, particularly through Dan Church Aid.
However, he lamented the decline of aid regime, which he said is now worsening poverty.
“We have serious poverty in Malawi and currently over 6.5 million people face serious hunger. I believe this trip will influence many sponsors to consider reaching out to us with support to help these people move out of poverty,” said Luhanga. n
