A mural for Malawi

A mural for Malawi

From April 9 to 14, a 40-foot shipping container will be transformed into an African-inspired work of art on Harbour Esplanade to raise funds for a new medical clinic in Malawi.

Led by the Rotary Club of Central Melbourne (Docklands Branch) in partnership with not-for-profit Educaring Africa, the project aims to raise money to ship donated medical and schooling equipment to Malawi.

It will mark the first project of the new Docklands Rotary Club, which is currently a branch of Central Melbourne while it continues to grow its membership here in Docklands. Rotary will use the project as an opportunity to engage the local community about its work here in Melbourne and internationally in a bid to boost local membership.

Led by Ethiopian artist Tamirat Gebremarium, a team of students from the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) will work together over the week to transform the container into an African-themed collage.

Members of the public and local community will also be invited to write messages on the container, which will be permanently left at the site of Educaring Africa’s new medical clinic located near Monkey Bay, Malawi.

Docklands Rotarian and director of Educaring Africa Sean Car, who founded the organisation in 2012, is working with Rotary’s Donations In Kind (DIK) facility in West Footscray on the initiative.

The facility stores second hand medical supplies, donated by hospitals around Melbourne, which Rotary clubs can access for sending to projects all around the world. While the equipment is donated, clubs must raise money for logistics.

Mr Car said the project aimed to raise awareness for Rotary here in Docklands and celebrate the local African community.

“I joined Rotary in Docklands to be part of growing the community down here and also help to further Educaring Africa’s vision for its friends in Malawi,” he said. “We’ve been building this clinic since 2016 and one of the final pieces of the puzzle has been to source the necessary medical equipment.”

The initiative will end on April 14 at the Docklands Sunday Market, where Rotary will have a stall set up offering African street food and a place for people to donate and find out more information on the project.

Locals and visitors who take photos of the container art are encouraged to use the hashtag #Mural4Malawi, which will be connected to a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the project.

For more information and to donate visit mycause.com.au/page/198782/medical-for-malawi. For more information on Docklands Rotary visit rotarydocklands.com.au or Educaring Africa visit educaringafrica.org

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