By Edwin Mauluka
Rare Charity has partnered with local visual artist Charles Levison to fundraise for the education of young girls from tea growing areas of Thyolo.
The collaboration has opened an exciting opportunity for Levison to exhibit his artworks to international market of UK.
Daisy Belfield Santos, Managing Director of Rare Charity said: “This is a fantastic collaboration. As well as fundraising for Rare Charity’s educational scholarship programmes in Malawi, this is an opportunity to expose the work of Charles Levison, a talented Malawian artist, to an international market. We will do everything we can to ensure that Charles gains the exposure he deserves, and we hope that we can open exciting new doors – so that other Malawian talent can be appreciated on an international level too.”
The online auction of Levison’s pieces by Rare Charity which opened in June to run until the end of July, will support the underprivileged Malawian girls around tea growing communities of Thyolo to continue with their secondary and tertiary studies.
The auction contains pieces of Levison’s visual aesthetic expression of stories about the tea producing communities in Thyolo.
A landscape artist and art teacher at Lilongwe Private School, Levison specialises in the impressionistic technique and he mostly uses a pallet knife.
“I feel so proud of myself that am not only representing myself but rather Malawi as a whole. This exhibition is also exposing the landscapes of tea estates in Malawi which is so beautiful and attractive. I feel that through this exhibition I have put Malawi on a map and my work will help to reinforce its reputation as a tea producing country.” Expressed Levison
Having exhibited across Malawi to national acclaim, Levison has worked on a number of projects including an exhibition inspired by “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”.
Rare Charity which operates around Satemwa Tea Garden in Thyolo, Southern Malawi, funds tertiary, as well as secondary educational scholarships for girls in the area. The scholarships are aimed at giving ambitious young people the agency to uplift themselves, their households and their communities.
Rare Charity Country Director, McDonald Nyoni, said besides supporting the debut of an exciting Malawian artist on an international market, the collaboration is geared at generating funds for transformative scholarships in tea communities.
“One way of fundraising was to partner with Charles Levison who is one of amazing visual artist in Malawi to do pieces that talks about life in the tea growing areas. The resources from this exhibition will go towards the support for secondary school girls because there is a huge number of girls in this area who are failing to continue with education due to lack of fees.” explained Nyoni
According to Nyoni, many girls in the tea producing areas are in dire need of education support. He said education is the only way to help them move out of poverty life.
He said Rare Scholars study at various levels, from Bachelors’ degrees to diplomas, and a variety of disciplines, such as Biomedical Engineering, Education, Clinical Medicine, Agriculture and Midwifery.
He disclosed that some of the beneficiaries who graduated from Rare Charity program are making important contribution in their respective communities.
“Some of the graduates are involved in initiatives that promote girl child education because this is a community where a lot of girls drop out of school due number of factors including child marriages and child labour within the estates. We are further seeing a new force of educated and empowered young people who are in good jobs and are able to support their families as well as their community,” said Nyoni.
Nyoni has since appealed for more support to sustain the bursary and increase number of beneficiaries. He said the little resources well-wishers may have shall go a long way in supporting girls currently doing their studies at Thyolo and Luchenza secondary schools.
“We are looking for more support because the demand is huge. That will help us to add more girls into the program since there are so many girls that are coming to seek for educational sponsorship. We are appealing to Malawians living in diaspora to join us in supporting young people to continue with their education so that they can be empowered and transform their communities,” said Nyoni.
