Title: tune your world

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

my big passion is music. i like all kinds of music from everywhere, although brasil is best. even better is dancing!! with my feet in samba, my head is in the clouds…

my work: Calabash Music - a fair trade music company -
we've just launched a new campaign that we're calling 'Tune Your World' as a creative approach to economic development in Africa.


Do you believe we can change the world through music?

In the United States our foreign-aid programs do not support our belief that we are a nation known for its good works around the world. The public believes we spend a great deal more money helping other countries than we actually do. Polls suggest that most Americans think the federal government spends about 10 to 15 percent of its budget on foreign aid. (see this survey conducted by the Program for International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland)

The truth is that we spend less than 1%, the lowest of any industrialized nation.

All of sub-Saharan Africa receives just over $1 billion per year from the US in economic aid. If everyone in the United States gave up one soft drink a month we could double our current aid to Africa. If everyone gave up one movie a year we could double our current aid to Africa and Asia.

We have an even better idea:
If every American would buy 10 songs by African Artists – We would DOUBLE the amount of money the US is currently sending to Africa. This is what we mean by 'Tune Your World'.

Where does the money go?
At least 50% (in some cases 100%) of your purchase will go to African Artists, or an African relief NGO and stay in Africa. With this money, musicians will be able to buy new instruments, recording or performing equipment, complete their education, or put a new roof on their house. Together we can create a thriving music economy in places where the music industry has never worked very well. A cultural economy that will support future generations with a vision of possibility. We are starting in Africa and we will be moving to other parts of the world as our work progresses.

How can you make this change happen?
1. Buy 10 songs by African Artists.

2. Forward this page URL - www.tuneyourworld.com
to your zaadz friends (imagine the power behind the Zaadzster community joining the 'Tune Your World' campaign.

3. Let us know about any great musician or music projects that we can feature.

It's that simple - Tune Your World.

We've designated the following African musicians and music projects whose good works stand out:

1. Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars
The Refugee All Stars were formed by singer Reuben Koroma and guitarist Francis “Franco” Langba who were living in the Kalia refugee camp in Guinea with other Sierra Leoneans who had fled civil war back home. “I had nothing to do,” recalled Reuben. “In the morning, I would go to the center were all the refugees would just be talking. I saw that many people were not happy. I thought: If I start to play music here, people will really feel well.” A Canadian NGO provided the band with PA gear so they could tour to other camps and raise spirits there. The music was helping to build community in the camps, drawing people to meetings where they could discuss their circumstances and options.

2. Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project
ASAP is an all-star compilation of some the hottest overground and underground Afrobeat artists today, including Tony Allen (ft. Fela Kuti), Antibalas, and many others. 100% of the procedes from this recordings will benefit the people suffering in the Darfur region of Sudan.  We all hope that this project will also raise awareness about the dire situation in Darfur: by some estimates, over 400,000 people have died by dehydration, disease, and at the hands of the Janjaweed – armed horsemen supported by the government of Sudan.

3. Stop Excision Project
If you want to change the lives of women in Mali then buy all the songs from the remarkable Stop Excision collection. 100% of all proceeds from the sale of these downloads goes to the Stop Excision project helping to eliminate FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) in Mali. “We can't avoid lots of bad things,” sings Kandia Kouyate  in Bambara, “But we can avoid a lot of pain if we stop excising our daughters.” Stop Excision is a recording of Malian artists singing anti-excision and pro-women's rights songs.

4. Zola
Zola has emerged as the superstar of South African Kwaito. He grew up in Soweto in the ghetto called Zola. He currently produces a television program called 'the Ghetto Dream Maker', where he makes peoples dreams come through every week. Recently the show has moved across Africa traveling to Botswana, Nigeria, Lesotho, Namibia to make the dreams of Africa come true! Zola comments, “Kwaito kids are made from hunger, abuse, no father, violence, guns. Now as adults we must change the game for the better. Now we must change everything we are made from”.

5. The Mutubambile Orphan Choir
Featuring Zimbawean singer/songwriter Oliver Mtukudzi, these beautiful songs of the choir call attention to the national problem posed by the many orphans left by HIV & Aids every year. The collaboration resulted in a 12-song collection that will contribute to helping the orphans complete their education.

Member Since: Monday, October 23 2006

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