Overview
At its core, Song for Africa is serious about change, and about educating the next generation on development issues in Africa. Our projects focus on using art and music to bring these difficult topics to light and to engage youth with relevant, engaging, and thought provoking mediums and messages.
Song for Africa CD Single
In the spring of 2006, several up and coming and popular Canadian musicians came together to write and record a music single and video called A Song for Africa to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. These artists included Billy Talent, Choclair, Damnhait Doyle, Kyle Riabko, Not By Choice, Luke McMaster, Big Sugar, Simon Wilcox, Rob Wells and Easily Amused. On August 13, 2006, the single and video premiered at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, ON in front of 30,000 delegates. Since its premier, the music video has been in medium rotation on Much Music and the single has placed #2 on the Canadian Music Charts. Several radio and television stations including CHUM FM, etalk Canada, ET Canada, CTV News, CBC News, Global TV and Much Music have all been extremely instrumental in lending their support to furthering the success of this project and raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic in Africa.
Song for Africa Lyrics
Spoken:
"No war on the face of the earth is more destructive than the AIDS pandemic" (Colin Powell)
v1
Driving down the road
Billboards at the side
Sell you everything you want
To fill your easy life
And for now we'll be alright
For now we'll be ok
Cause we can watch the sunset on another perfect day
prech:
They say it's just the way it is
Nothing's ever gonna change
There's nothing we can do about it
ch:
I don't want to live my life in ignorance
People think it's safe to plead indifference
Why, do people have to die?
It isn't that hard to make a difference
All it takes is a little persistence
I, think we should try
v2
Thousands of people die
With millions unaware
We think it's cool to be cavalier
We ignore cause it's over there (for now)
We will be alright (for now)
And we will be ok (for now)
Cause we can watch the sunrise on another perfect day
prech 2
ch 2
Bridge:
Stop your crying
Their pain is
Our pain
Please start trying
Are we listening?
In the end we are all the same
Daughters and sons are
Suffering
Rap:
Now their pain is our pain
Their loss is our loss
Sometimes we forget
Cause it ain't happening on our blocks
But people dying out there
Got babies born with a cross to bear
Now sometimes we sit here say our days our boring
Over there some don't see next morning
And when they're a coughin'
That means a coffin
My heart is hurting we must do something
God bless the world
Man, woman and child
If you ain't done good in awhile...
ch 3 and 4
Spoken:
"Where you live, should no longer determine whether you live." (Bono)
Song for Africa Documentary
Following the success of the Song for Africa CD-single, a professional video teamled by Savant Productions, Derek Horn and Generator Films produced the Songfor Africa Documentary. Musicians who were involved in the original music singletraveled to Kenya in the summer of 2007 to capture everyday stories from thoseaffected by the AIDS pandemic. Featured artists included Ian D'sa (Billy Talent),Damhnait Doyle, Luke McMaster and Simon Wilcox. The musicians participatedin Free The Children’s holistic Adopt a Village program. They also participated inCARE Kenya’s Local Links venture program in Kibera.
The social developmentprojects explored in the documentary are designed to assist Kenya in achievingthe Millennium Development Goals of reducing under-five mortality rates,maternal mortality rates, reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other majorinfectious diseases through promoting preventive health care.
The documentary presents Kenya, its people and developmental issues in a newlight to Canada’s young people. Along with a teacher’s manual, it is beingdisseminated by CTV’s Distribution Access through school systems across thecountry.
Follow Up
On September 27th, 2008, Song for Africa broadcast their documentary acrossCanada courtesy of Citytv in target markets of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton,Winnipeg, and Toronto. The subsequent marketing campaign surrounding thisdocumentary achieved significant reach and impact in our target segmentsand markets. This combined effort led to viewership of 30,000+ householdsacross Canada for the documentary alone.
Our traditional advertising reached our targets across Canada, with multipleexposures in Toronto and Winnipeg. The creation and implementation of a Songfor Africa public service announcement will continue to air on Citytv networksthroughout the year maintaining our exposure and frequency across Canada.Our combined marketing efforts ensured that the broadcast of the documentarywas a success and generated significant media interest and exposure for anorganization with the limited resources of Song for Africa.
Get Involved
We need your help and you can make a difference by helping bring SFA into your communities.
Grassroots Outreach
As Song for Africa’s mission is to engage and inform Canadian youth, one of the best ways to reach out is by going into their schools and local community centres. Presentations including a brief history of the organization and cause accompanied by the screening of our documentary make for an informative, engaging and fun event in any school or community setting. SFA will also support groups or individuals who wish to hold a screening of their own as a fundraiser for SFA by supplying a copy of the documentary along with an information kit, resources and follow up project ideas.
If you would like to host a Song for Africa event or would like more information about our outreach program please contact us at outreach@songforafrica.com
Street Teams
The SFA Street Team will give you the opportunity to help engage your peers about the development issues and hope that are present in Africa today. Plus, it will give you exclusive opportunities to get involved with SFA and its artists.
Ways in which you can make a difference are pretty simple and straightforward. You can help to spread the word about SFA by word of mouth and guide others to our website, introduce people to our merchandise and get people to sign up for our mailing list here (outreach@songforafrica.com).
When we have upcoming events you will be among the first to know, and you’ll have exclusive access to SFA artists and events. We will send out an email with all the details which you can then forward to everyone you know. At times there will be downloadable posters which you can print and post around your community, work or school.
Upcoming Events
Celebrity Art Auction–Started April 2009To get 2009 off on the right foot and help those truly in need, Song for Africa is hosting an ongoing online Celebrity Art Auction with the goal of raising funds for the SFA Scholarship Fund. Check out all the beautiful pieces of art here on our eBay page. Canadian musicians and celebrities will create original visual works of art which will then be auctioned off. We have already successfully auctioned off pieces by Simon Wilcox and Stephen Carroll of The Weakerthans, and we are hoping to continue upping the ante with subsequent pieces! The first event took place through SFA’s virtual store on eBay in April of 2009. We will be sending out a message with the details and link soon so you can help us make a difference and purchase one of your favourite rock stars original work of art. Check out the Facebook page here to check out the new art we have rollin’ in everyday. Thanks to all the artists, who are truly making a difference. Keep it up!
Song for Africa Documentary - Re-airingIn case you missed the Song for Africa Documentary broadcast on Citytv in September 2008, fear not, since the doc will be re-aired twice more this year! Keep an eye out on local listings for the SFA doc on BookTV on March 26th, and again on Bravo! May 12th. Schools and educators can also get a copy of the DVD for their classes here or arrange for a screening and speaking engagement for the community or school by contacting us at outreach@songforafrica.com
Documentary # 2 - Rwanda: Rising UpSTAY TUNED!!!!
SFA on CitytvMore news coming soon, but expect to see an SFA show in the works on Citytv in the near future!
Past Events
From T.O. to Africa: A Song for Africa Benefit Concert – April 29th 2009
Bringing together a fantastic lineup of Juno artists and local talent, Song for Africa along with the support of Johnny B’s in Whitby helped raise more than $2700 for our Scholarship Fund. The night was a great success with performances by Press Play Lifestyles, Respect Over Money Records, GENERAL, Oli, Peter Jackson, Blues Underdog, Famous, and our man Choclair. Everyone was having a great time and it was tremendous to see you all out supporting our cause. There will be more like this in the future, be sure of that!
Song for Africa Documentary ReleaseParty– September 23rd 2008
Musicians who were involved in the original CD single (Ian D'sa (Billy Talent), Damhnait Doyle, Luke McMaster & Simon Wilcox) traveled to Kenya in the summer of 2007 to capture everyday stories from those affected by the AIDS pandemic and to further SFA's mission to raise awareness. SFA had its release party for the documentary at Tattoo Rock Parlour in Toronto on the evening of September 23rd 2008. We had a great turnout for the screening which included all of the artists who were in the documentary, the other members from Billy Talent, Choclair and members from The Trews.
Celebrity Rock Climbing Fundraiser – September 12th 2008
Although the original plan for this event was to go skydiving, we unfortunately were rained out. We were able to salvage the day by getting everyone together to go rock climbing. We were still able to raise awareness and funds with the help of Faber Drive, Choclair and Billy Talent and their admirable determination to help SFA. We spent the day taking turns climbing a wall to illustrate SFA’s “uphill battle” against the AIDS pandemic. ET Canada was there to document it all and a great time was had by everyone. All the proceeds from this event went to our collaborative project with Free The Children to build a much needed hospital in Kenya as well as to the SFA Scholarship Fund.
Montreal Art Sale– July 25th 2008
Montreal artists joined forces on July 25th 2008 and sold their artwork to raise funds for SFA. The artwork up for sale was generously donated by caring Canadian artists who believe that we can all make a difference. Along with the art sale, the night involved live music by renowned Montreal DJ’s, raffle tickets for prizes from local businesses and a chance to win one of the artworks.The proceeds from this event went towards SFA’s grassroots efforts and the SFA Scholarship Fund.
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – August 2006During the summer of 2006 SFA CEO Darcy Ataman courageously climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in order to raise money to build a primary school in the Masai Mara region of Kenya. This was a much needed school for the often forgotten children in this area. Both the climb and the fundraising were very successful.
