Chakwera makes history , visit Sant’ Egidio

Malawi Leader , President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, has held discussions with Professor Marco Impagliazzo, President of the Community of Sant’Egidio, at the Community’s headquarters in Rome on Tuesday, 20th August 2024.

The President was keen to follow up on the progress of the developmental work the Community is doing in Malawi, where it has had operations since the year 2000, delivering life-saving services to 8000 orphans across Malawi through Sant’Egidio’ Schools of Peace, providing support to 14 of Malawi’s prisons, implementing the DREAM (Drug Resource Enhancement Against AIDS and Malnutrition) Programme at the 13 Health Centres that Sant’Egidio operates in the districts of Dowa, Dedza, Mangochi, Machinga, Balaka, and Blantyre to deliver nutrition and medical supplements to people living with HIV, and rescuing street children from the clutches of poverty and exploitation through the House of Friendship and House of Hope in Blantyre and Lilongwe respectively.

During the meeting, President Chakwera expressed his gratitude to Professor Impagliazzo for the commitment of Sant’Egidio to the development of Malawi, as well as for both his visit to Malawi last year to energize and catalyze the Community’s work in Malawi and the recent visit to Malawi by a delegation of Italian development workers that included 28 members of Sant’Egidio. Furthermore, His Excellency called on the President of Sant’Egidio to leverage the warm relations that his Administration has developed with the Italian and Vatican Governments to expand its operations in Malawi for greater access to the Community’s services to more Malawians.

In response, Professor Impagliazzo pledged to support the President’s vision to align all development work to the aspirations, values, pillars, and enablers of the Malawi 2063 Vision, and to galvanize more youth into the noble cause of volunteerism through which the Community of Sant’Egidio combines a life of devoted prayer to God with a life of devoted service to the marginalized.

The Professor also expressed delighted to meet Ms. Innocentia Ottober and Mr. Steven Collins Mangwanya, who are members of the Catholic Laiety in Malawi visiting Rome as part of President Chakwera’s delegation to the Holy See, and he thanked the President for his unprecedented engagement with both the clergy and laiety of the Catholic Church in Malawi.

President Chakwera’s visit to Sant’Egidio marks the conclusion of his tour of duty to the Holy See and to Italy, as he now prepares to make his way to Germany for engagements with the Government and Private sector in the cities of Frankfurt and Berlin.