Malawi, 2019

Last summer, I had the privilege to visit Malawi, one of the poorest countries in all of Africa, with a friend and peer, Jeffrey Li. We held a summer camp in a high school, called Mercy High, under the organization of Warm Heart of Africa Foundation.

Instead of following any existing curriculum, Jeffery and I created the program from scratch. From drafting to editing proposals, to tweaking logistic details and fitting in some humour, it was a transformative first-time teaching experience for Jeffery and I. I had the opportunity to share my joy in art and public speaking to these students.

For one of the art classes, I prepared a creative workshop inspired by Picasso's portraits.

As a fun introduction I began the lesson by printing Pablo Picasso's entire name---which consists of 23 words---on the blackboard. I turned around expecting shock and amazement, but was met with gaping faces and blank expressions. It only took a few seconds for me to realize that perhaps none of these students had ever heard of the name Picasso or ever witnessesd the works of "mainstream" artsits; the great paragons of Western art hisotry have never reached their stories, murals, or textbooks, nor, frankly, had they any reason to.

My confusion was soon replaced by some sort of embarrassemnt. In that moment I started to contemplate why I was there preaching alien tales and knowledge that was never relevant to their lives. The show had to carry on, however, so I began with a brief show and tell of Picasso and his art. But hte whole time I was fearing that at some point the flicker of interest in their eyes would dwindle; I'd ask myself "Why should they care?"

Why do I care?

The lesson that day was assemble a self portrait with geometric cutouts of colourful construction paper. As their faces gradually materialized from trapezoids and concentric circles, students grew more and more delighted; they enjoyed the projects----and were very good at it.

As a matter of fact, cubism has always been very close to their culture. It took me several more years to learn that it was exactly the uniquely angular, geometric aesthetic of African tribal masks that had inspired Picasso's cubism.

They care because we cared.

During art class, despite our students’ lack of artistic knowledge, I was amazed by their incredibly creative talent. We were rewarded with the incredible growth of every one of our 38 Malawi students. We loved seeing the sparkles in their eyes and their carefree mirth.

I also witnessed how education can change minds and even lives. With every individual’s thought we partake in comes a country’s prosper.

After my trip back from Malawi, I decided to found my own club –“Warm Heart of Africa @ Yungu”, more schoolmates to participate in reaching a helping hand to Malawi.

We hosted multiple campaigning events, including a face painting workshop at my school's senior prom.

Local concert and winter galas for future donations.

Hosting International speaking competitions, with participants from Malawian schools, both online during the pandemic and offline.

Stay tuned for more updates!!