Catholic Sisters Expose Gaps in Cyclone Recovery.

A grouping of sisters within the Catholic Church known as All Africa Conference: Sister to Sister (AACSS) has challenged the government to enhance its efforts in reaching out to all Cyclone survivors.

AACSS Senior programs officer Eneless Chimbali made the call during the opening of a four-day advocacy training in Lilongwe for sisters who are helping the authorities in the cylone recovery process.

_{Chimbali: the government should take responsibility for its citizens.}

According to Chimbali, many areas that were affected by cyclone are yet to get the needed aid in terms of infrastructure and supply of materials to survivors in many parts of the southern region.

She observed that despite the generous help that the government of Malawi got from international organizations and other countries, very little has been done on the ground.

“This advocacy workshop is key because we are doing badly in terms of the recovery process because, in some districts, most roads and other damaged infrastructure such as schools and hospitals are still the same nothing has happened,’’ Chimbali said.

Her colleague, Agnes Jonas who is the Chairperson of the Association of Concentrated Women for Religious Institutions in Malawi (AWRIM) highlighted how the association has been working in the affected areas since the disaster occurred.

_{Jonas: these sisters have done a lot in affected areas.}

“The group has been reaching out to cyclone survivors in several ways including provision of relief items and psychological support. However, the needs of survivors are still enormous hence the need to equip those involved in this work with advocacy skills to meaningfully engage the government and stakeholders to reduce the plight of those affected,’’ Jonas explained.

The advocacy workshop has drawn together Catholic Sisters from Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

AACSS was founded in 2002 at Yale Divinity School as an invitation to the Sisters in Africa to respond to HIV/AIDS as the sub-Saharan region is the epicentre of the pandemic.