Emerging Artist Donates Portrait for GWT Auction
Art with Heart
Selma Malasi is a young, award-winning emerging artist. She has had exhibitions in Malaysia, the Turner Contemporary and The Royal Academy, and is a second-year student at Central Saint Martins College London. Selma was introduced to GWT through her father, who has spent some time with our team out in Nepal. As a result of this connection, Selma kindly donated a beautiful portrait of Arimaya Rai, a Gurkha widow who is cared for at our Residential Home in Dharan, for our annual online auction. Selma is “proud to have produced a piece supporting GWT.”
A Family Connection to Nepal
Selma’s father, Jihad, has been a doctor for over two decades. He is a senior GP and educator with an interest in global health medicine. He made two visits to Nepal in 2022 and 2023, and visited the Areas Welfare Centres in Butwal and Kaski, Pokhara.
He spent time with medical teams on both sites, supported with primary care, education, and offered one-to-one mentoring and communication skills. He also spent time with the management teams involved in water and sanitation projects, home building & project work.
Dr. Malasi reported back, “ I was very grateful to meet Dr. Gerda Pohl and members of the Medical & Management team.
Not only was I struck by the warmth and dedication of the teams, I was deeply impressed by their commitment to raising primary care standards across the organisation. The GWT, I discovered, don’t just commit resources to primary care, they do much more to support a significant number of veterans and dependents.
I was deeply humbled to witness their ongoing activities in disaster management, water supply, school building and many other activities beyond medicine. As such, I’m very proud to support their efforts, and indeed involve my daughter to help as well.”
Building Community at Home and Abroad
GWT Ambassador Hari Budha Magar and Dr. Malasi recently met at Hari’s home to discuss plans for a community fundraising event in 2026. Furthermore, we are hoping to host a special group call featuring both Dr Gerda Pohl and Dr. Jihad Malasi, providing supporters with a chance to hear about their joint medical work in Nepal and participate in a live Q&A session.
Heartfelt Thanks
Thank you Selma for your beautiful piece of art and thank you Jihad for engaging so generously with the Trust. We truly value your support and your generosity.
This wonderful painting raised £255 for The Gurkha Welfare Trust and we would like to thank Selma for her generosity. We would also like to thank all those of our supporters who both donated items for our auction or who competed so generously for the winning bids.