FOUNDER OF M A L AW I A N S AND FRIENDS IN SOUTH AFRICA (MAFSA) at the Carlton Hotel was attended by 200 people. Since then, the word got out about our activities and we have managed to host a dinner and dance for every year leading up to our last function at O R Tambo Southern Sun last year. How was the event last year? Last year’s event was one of our best yet. It was well sponsored by businesses and individuals including Malawi Tourism and Air Malawi. We had a few entertainers including Lucius Banda and it was attended by about 300 attendees who had a fantastic time particularly because drinks were free for an extended period. Additionally, we managed to raise funds for the Sonke Gender Justice initiative and this was covered in various media. The only negative feedback we received from the event was a few too many speeches as most of the sponsors got to speak. We will be looking to reduce this when we host our function this year at the same venue on 03 December 2011 with part of the proceeds going to Reach out and Touch, a charity organisation in Malawi.
have a rotating committee as new people come in with new energy and new ideas. The success of each year’s event is usually dependent on the strength of the team organising it. MAFSA is neither a political nor a religious organisation. Our group is made up not only of Malawians, but also people of various African nationalities. We are looking to expand our activities to incorporate those in the informal sector as well as they sometimes feel excluded from our annual black tie event which is primarily frequented by professionals and business people. Beyond that we are in the process of developing a website to increase our visibility. At the moment, we have a database of over 1000 Malawians and can be reached on our new email address MAFSA2010@gmail.com or fax number +27866000149. We are grateful to all MAFSA members; we have survived for 17 years this year because of their commitment and contribution and look forward to their continued support to make a difference in our country and the continent.
“We have successfully hosted a Malawi night dinner every year since 1994....”
- Keith Kundai
Martha with some of the Malawi Night 2011 organisers.
We have been an unregistered group up to now but we are in the process of registering it as a Non Profit Organisation in South Africa. We intend to launch the new organisation at the dinner. We have a permanent MAFSA committee as well as a rotating committee each year that is responsible for organising the dinner. It is good to
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