Musician Patience Namadingo will tomorrow spearhead a fundraising drive for 21-year-old music student William Kachigamba who has been diagnosed with cancer.
The musician will raise the funds by sitting as a statue at the proposed Mahatma Gandhi statue site in Blantyre.
He will sit at the site from 10am until the money amounting to K3 million is raised to help the young guitarist who has a cancerous mouth ulcer get medical treatment.
In an interview, Namadingo said when Kachigamba, who is a person with albinism, approached him, he felt compelled to help.
“Time is not on our side. The mouth ulcer is getting more and more painful by the day and William needs to be treated as soon as possible,” he said.
Namadingo said that he will sit at the site while his media team live streams everything on social media, asking well-wishers to donate whatever they can afford until the money is realised.
“I am hopeful that we will raise the money soon. So far the response has been encouraging and I believe in Malawi we have a lot of people of goodwill who will come through to donate whatever they can,” said the artist who in 2017 raised over K16 million for the Paediatric Ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre.
The musician said he will not eat during the time he will sit at the statue, but will take water periodically.
In a video clip, Kachigamba appealed for support from Namadingo and well-wishers to enable him travel to Zambia for medical treatment.
“At Kamuzu Central Hospital doctors told me that the mouth ulcer is cancerous. It needs radiotherapy treatment and later I will need plastic surgery. So, according to the doctor, I need K3 million for all that,” he said.
Kachigamba then asked well-wishers to help him can get treatment as soon as possible before he proceeded to perform a cover of Namadingo’s Mapulani.
The young guitarist, who spoke with difficulty due to the wound, said he is in pain and has to cover his mouth at all times because the wound pains him more when in direct contact with the sun.
He is a music student at Crossroads Music School in Lilongwe.
Well-wishers can donate towards Kachigamba’s cancer treatment using mobile money number 0994875515 or account Number 1850001019338, account name Patience Namadingo, FDH Bank.
