Malawi: Missionary Children at an Outstation donate blankets to fellow poor children

Missionary Children at Kamwendo Outstation of Guilleme Parish in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe in Malawi donated 130 blankets to fellow underprivileged children in the same parish early July 2019.

The gesture is in the spirit of living Missionary Charity as Holy Childhood members and living the fourth dimension of the Extraordinary Missionary Month of October 2019. The Missionary Children are animated and encouraged to live like Christ, in sharing love to those in the periphery of the society.  

In this regard, the Missionary Children of Kamwendo Outstation in the Malawi raised about USD 500 to buy the blankets, which they donated after a Eucharistic Celebration at Kamwendo Catholic Church.

One of the group members, Alinafe Tobias, disclosed that they raised the money through contributions amongst themselves from the money they get from piece works as a group and individuals and solicited the support of their parents or guardians and other adults of good will in their the outstations. She said that though they are also poor, but they felt obliged to help fellow children who have no blankets and this cold season in Malawi the needy children suffer with cold because they use light cloth locally called “chitenje” (a wrapper) to cover themselves at night.

“We want to inculcate a culture of love and giving in our fellow children so that we should also learn to help others even from the little resources we have,” said Alinafe. She added that as holy childhood, one of their activities they are encouaraged by animators to do is reaching out to their fellow children who are suffering in order to show and teach them love and many other good Christian values.

Rodah Jere is one of the children who received their blankets and she did not hide her excitement, saying she would now be able to sleep with the warmth the blanket would give her.

“I am inspired by my fellow children for this gesture and I am spired to join Tilitonse (the Holy Childhood children in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe) so that I become one of the children that are promoting love and giving,” she said.

Head of the PMS in Malawi, Father Vincent Mwakhwawa, commended members of the Holy Childhood of Kamwendo Outstation in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe, stressing that they demonstrated a unique spirit of missionary charity, which is lacking among people in the society in Malawi.

“I am impressed with these children. It shows that they are managing to live what they are learning from Holy Childhood classes, the Bible and their teachers about a Christian life in the Catholic faith. It is not easy for many people to live what they read in the Bible,” observed Mwakhwawa.

“This gesture is an example of what a human being should be, especially children. It is sad that, we, adults underrate children, thinking that they cannot love, give and donate. Moreover, because these children are from poor families, people think they can-not share the little they have.”

“The children at Kamwendo Outstation have just proved to us that they have the capacity to love and express it much better than most of us and they can give from their poverty because they understand their baptismal obligation as young missionaries,” he added.

Mwakhwawa further stated that love and sharing are core human and Christian values. This missionary charity from children to fellow children has come at the right time when it is a cold season in Malawi and many families can-not afford blankets. Therefore, these missionary children has a dressed a real need of fellow children who suffer in cold season.

Malawi

July 2019

By Watipaso Mzungu