by Ed Pascoe

South Africa is a country with the greatest disparity between people with the top 20% of the wealth vs. those at the bottom 20%. The top 20% in South Africa live a life of luxury with large homes and servants. Even the average middle class family has at least one full time maid. The bottom 20% of the population economically lives a life of subsistence, barely able to cover the cost of food and basic necessities. When I visited South Africa in March 2023, for the first time, I visited the artists where they live. Many live in remote villages located on dirt roads and far from creature comforts. In the village where Love Art Ceramics is located, several of the artists live in mud huts with grass or metal roofs. There is no running water piped into the houses. Villagers must walk to the communal water pump, about 500 feet away, and fill buckets to carry back to their houses. That water is used for cooking, washing, and bathing. The hand carried water is also used in the ceramics making process.

The actual workplace for Love Art Ceramics is a recently constructed house that Lungelo built for his mother Zinhle Nene. When I visited in March, all the painters were working in one room in this house. In a small shed outside the house, the three sculptors were working. As a result of the funds sent by Pascoe & Company to Love Art each month, they have been able to create a better workplace. Lungelo showed me a partially constructed house next door that is going to be the new home of the business. Today, I just received a message from Lungelo that the new workplace is finished. Next month, all the artist will be working in the new workspace and Zinhle will have her home back to herself and her immediate family.

During my visit I asked all the artists what they most wanted out of their work. Unequivocally, they all said they wanted a new house for their immediate family. Up until now, most of the artists have been sharing living space in a family house, not having their own home for their spouse and children. Many of these houses are mud huts; they leak when it rains, and are cold and drafty, and very muddy and dirty. I was humbled to hear about such a basic desire coming from such an amazingly talented group of artists. Speaking with them, and being a witness to their needs, reinforced my mission to help lift them out of the poverty they have endured.