Dartmouth College’s award-winning a cappella group, the Aires, partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to promote awareness of the continuing famine in the Horn of Africa. The group, which placed second in last year’s NBC show “The Sing-Off,” recorded “Calling My Children Home,” a folk-inspired tune by Emmylou Harris in honor of the victims of the famine. The song alludes to separation and longing, and they sang this special song at a performance at the UN headquarters earlier this month.
Listen to the song here:
These themes are all too real for the nearly 13 million people affected by the famine in the region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that upwards of 1000 people flee Somalia every day, choosing to walk to neighboring Kenya, Ethiopia, or Djibouti for refuge. Those countries, too, suffer from food shortages.
“We wanted to give something back,” the Aires’ manager Ethan Weinberg told the UN News Service. “We have a larger following now and we wanted to use our reach for a good cause.”
Here’s a great movie to add to your Netflix queue: “OKA!” It follows the story of Larry, a young American ethnomusicologist who spends much of his career documenting the music of the Bayaka pygmies of Yandombe, deep in the lush rainforests of the Central African Republic. On a fund raising trip to the States, Larry discovers that he is ill and cannot go back to Yandombe. Despite the doctor’s orders, he decides to go back — he has a feeling that the Bayaka people need him.
And they do. When Larry arrives, he finds out that a timber corporation is threatening to drive out the Bayaka people from their homes, changing their traditional way of life. Despite Larry’s illness, he helps the Bayaka figure out a way to keep their culture, music and dignity — and learns a lot about life along the way.
With its colorful visuals, powerful soundtrack and moving storyline, “OKA!” offers a rare glimpse into the daily life of one of the most remote peoples on the planet. Read more about the film here.
Do you need a soundtrack to inspire you to fight against AIDS? Look no further than the Sinikithemba Choir, a South African musical group whose members, in addition to their passion and talent, have one thing in common: they are all HIV-positive.
Based in Durban, South Africa, the choir draws inspiration for their unique voice from their personal experiences, using music to call for prevention programs and treatments that will stop HIV in its tracks. Originally founded to support a community facing particularly high transmission rates and a stigma that left many battling the virus feeling isolated and alone, the group quickly found that their message resonated with thousands of others all over the world.
Meet Makemende. He’s a fictional superhero character from Kenya afropop group Just A Band’s viral music video, “Ha-he.” In the video, the first to become “viral” in Kenya, he sends robbers fleeing, fights off masked kidnappers and rescues his heroine — all with a sense of cool and style that leaves audiences envious. The character Makemende has become an international icon since the video launched, earning him a huge national following and acclaim from the likes of MTV, Fast Company and CNN International. You could almost say he’s Kenya’s version of the “Old Spice man!”
Travel to South Africa, and I’m sure that, like I was when I visited last year, you will be blown away by the creativity and color of the street art that decorates much of the country. From the hand-drawn murals that adorn school walls to positive messages painted onto bridges, office blocks and even government buildings, you can’t help but notice how much time and care has been put into this public artwork designed for all to enjoy.
So, how do you pull together a full-length album featuring a team of 11 producers and 50 local performers that highlights the diversity of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s music scene while relating to listeners around the world?
While in Mali earlier this year, I discovered some musicians with truly incredible abilities on string instruments. In this area, Mali has brought a disproportionate number of superbly talented musicians into the world – from the legends of the 21-stringed West African harp called the Kora, like the late Ali Farka Touré, to Baba Salah, whose skills on electric guitar evoke comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, who, along with Habib Koité, are two of Mali’s proudest living exports.
Thankfully, these artists are not ones to keep their talent to themselves. Collaborations abound, such as an album full of the melodic artistry between Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté, a West African storyteller known as a Griot. Their mutual respect and talent are a joy to hear, and to watch.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
While in Mali earlier this year, I discovered some musicians with truly incredible abilities on string instruments. In this area, Mali has brought a disproportionate number of superbly talented musicians into the world – from the legends of the 21-stringed West African harp called the Kora, like the late Ali Farka Touré, to 
