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Safari Design, a dutch tour operator that specialises in a selection of African destinations including Malawi, have partnered with Malawian artisans Mayamiko to launch the Meaningful Mask Malawi campaign.

The scheme is simple – buy a #meaninfulmaskmalawi and your purchase will fund the donation of a mask to someone who really needs it in Malawi. The team are bringing two-layered face masks (so you can use a filter for extra protection) to you from Malawi.

The first 1,000 masks are in production and will be ready for shipment soon. Safari Design have have partnered with DHL, who will do their utmost to get the masks to you as soon as possible. In total, it will take a couple of weeks after ordering to get the #meaningfulmask to your home. Orders are on request, with a minimum order of 20 masks.

Safari Design partnership with Mayamiko
In addition to running Safari Design in Malawi, owner Lotte van Rooij plans to start a yoga studio and a yoga & soulwear collection – Lotta Yoga – made of local chitenge. Chitenge are colourful pieces of fabric used by women to hold a baby across the back or to wear as an everyday dress. It’s become a fashion statement and not just in Africa itself. I want the whole collection to be made of colourful and bold chitenge, which not only looks beautiful, but enables Lotte to support local, sustainable businesses while helping empower women here in Malawi. Lotte met Hlupe from Mayamiko and explained what she was looking for. She understood her wishes completely and was very excited to work on the new Lotte Yoga brand with her team. However, since Covid-19 reached Malawi, Mayamiko’s entire production has been diverted to making masks. The Lotta Yoga collection will have to wait – and that’s totally fine.

#meaninfulmaskmalawi is born
Malawi’s fight against Covid-19 needs all the help it can get as they country doesn’t even have a fully equipped ICU here. Lotte recently bought face masks from Mayamiko for all Safari Design staff, and wondered if she could get people interested in buying the face masks and helping Malawi at the same time. With this in mind, Lotte posted a picture of the beautiful Mayamiko masks online. She was inundated with interest and requests, which was at once overwhelming and heart-warming.

To ensure this project is fair trade and meaningful, the Give a mask, get a mask concept was born. This means that when you buy a #meaningfulmaskmalawi, you automatically donate and help the project.