Using art to help others
Touched with the level of poverty and how it affects education, former Miss Malawi second princess Chimwemwe Ngugi Buleya has embarked on a project to help in her small way. Using her skills as a fashion designer, the former beauty queen is designing and making uniforms for less privileged primary school pupils. Our arts editor EDITH GONDWE caught up with Buleya for details. Exerpts:
Q
: Who is Chimwemwe Ngugi Buleya?
A
: My name is Chimwemwe Ngugi Buleya. I’m a presenter at MBC TV. I am also an award-winning fashion designer and a former Miss Malawi 2018 second princess.
Q
: Tell us about the new project that you have just launched?
A
: This year I introduced a project Wala Initiative to provide school uniforms to underprivileged pupils in rural primary schools across Malawi through my fashion designing skills. Our first school is Chambwe Primary School which consists of 88 needy students with no school uniforms and we have recently delivered 18 uniforms and are still in progress of making the rest of the uniforms.
Q
: What inspired you to come up with this initiative?
A
: First of all, I have always wanted to do something for other people and I didn’t really know how. One day, I was passing by Airwing road early in the morning and I saw a lot of pupils going to school and some did not wear uniforms while others wore ripped uniforms. At the same time, others were donning their smart uniforms. In that moment it hit me that I can actually make uniforms for these less privileged pupils. So, that is how the idea started and as we were doing our research, we found that some pupils dropped out of school because they did not have uniforms or wore the same clothes for the whole week. Hearing such stories broke my heart and I immediately started the project with my personal resources and later decided to make it public since I knew I could not go it alone.
Q
: So far, how is the project rolling?
A
: Well, so far so good. We have identified one school called Chambwe Primary School. We made uniforms for 18 pupils and now we are in progress of making the rest until we finish. After this phase, we will approach another school.
Q
: So, who is coming up with the designs?
A
: We are making the uniforms according to the school designs and yes I’m the one doing them at my shop.
Q
: Apart from this project, what else do you have up your sleeve to use your skills as a designer and former beauty princess?
A
: Currently, this is the main project that I’m looking forward to expand to reach as many students as possible and involve different organisations or individuals that can support the initiative to grow and make a positive impact forever. And also to just open people’s eyes that we can all use what we have to change the world. We do not really have to have it all together, but we can start with one step at a time. Soon, I will be officially launching Miss Teen Beauty Pageant that aims to be an educational platform for teenagers to help them in their growth as they transform into adulthood.
Q
: Since the Miss Malawi platform introduced you to charity work, what are some of the projects that you have been involved in?
A
: I have helped a few projects privately, but this is my first public project that I’m sharing with the world. I think we are all capable of making a difference in other’s people’s lives. We do not really have to always wait on the government or organisations. Imagine if all of us were doing something for others what kind of a world could we have lived in? We can try to do something at an individual level that can’t still make a great impact despite how small it can be and I’m welcoming all individuals or organisations that would like to be part of this project to reach out to me and work together.
