In a quest to address the growing concern of suicide, musicians led by veteran musician Kelvin Maigwa on Saturday held a show to raise awareness about the dangers of suicide through music.
The show, held at Mwanza hotel in “Mwanza district was dubbed Mwanza Arts Festival Towards Suicide Prevention.”
Maigwa told the patrons of the event that he organised the show after noticing a rise in suicide cases in Malawi.
“Personally, I’ve lost friends and seen families shattered by suicide and I cannot just stand and watch,” Maigwa said.
During the event, musicians and poets including Maigwa, James Chimoto, Twin M, Joseph Madzedze and Gibson Tsamba, just to mention a few, took turns in mesmerising the patrons with impressive performances.
“Music is our tool to make a difference and we will continue using it to make a difference,” said Maigwa in a separate interview.
During the event, the musicians stressed on the need for people who are facing the threat of suicide to seek mental health support to be well informed about the vice.
One of the show’s patrons, Nicholas Dausi, member of Parliament for Mwanza Central Constituency commended Maigwa for organising the event, saying it has helped to restore hope among people.
“I personally love the way Maigwa has leveraged music’s universal language to raise awareness on the dangers of suicide. We need more people to join the movement,” he said.
The event was organised with financial support from the Copyright Fund which is under the Copyright Society of Malawi (COSOMA).
The fund’s manager Blessings Botha expressed satisfaction with how the event turned out.
“The Copyright Fund supported Maigwa with funds of up to K8.4 million after he submitted what was deemed to be a very good proposal and we are very satisfied that he has delivered,” said Botha.
Mervis Phiri, a patron of the show said she was touched with the message which was shared at the event.
