SFA Newsletter - December 2008

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Song for Africa Newsletter – Issue #2, December 2008


Recap of Recent Events:

SFA CEO back from Rwanda and Kenya :
SFA CEO Darcy Ataman recently spent time in Rwanda and Kenya working
on upcoming projects and checking up on ongoing ones. This trip turned
out to be more life-changing than he ever expected. Many of you
received our special report written by Darcy recounting this amazing
trip. The letter also includes updates about our scholarship
recipients, the VCT clinic and the SFA school. If you did not receive
this report, please visit the group page to read this inspiring
letter.
http://groups.google.ca/group/songforafrica
To see pictures from the trip, visit the SFA facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Song-For-Africa/19414061788


Song for Africa Today:

Introducing SFA staff members:
Darcy Ataman: Founder and CEO
Karan Bhutani: Administrator
Julie Lafrance: Fundraising, Event Organiser, Street Team
Rebecca Ngaywa: Nairobi representative
Peter Northcott: Marketing
Rebecca Purver: Writer, Research
Noma Sibanda: SFA Scholarship Program representative

Montreal high school students start SFA Club:
Westwood High School Senior Campus students with the help of Julie
Lafrance have created the first SFA student-run club. These young
leaders are committed to the cause and will truly help to make a
difference in the lives of many. Their first big project will be to
organise a school-wide screening of the SFA Documentary on January
27th, followed by a series of fundraisers throughout the school year.
You can send them your support by visiting their facebook group or by
contacting the school at the following links:
http://westwoodsr.lbpsb.qc.ca/
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=32392429838
If your school or community group would like to organise its own SFA
club, do not hesitate to contact us for help or advice. We are always
ready to help and we appreciate your involvement.

SFA public service announcements:
Song for Africa will be filming new PSAs to help spread our message.
We are open to suggestions as to how to approach these, so please feel
free to email us with any ideas you may have. To view our first PSA,
visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdOFdxU4DeM

SFA CEO inspires Winnipeg youth:
Darcy Ataman has been taking time out of his busy schedule to speak to
local students about his vision of a better world and how they can
help to make it happen. One hundred students at Kelvin High School
in Winnipeg attended a screening of SFA’s first documentary and had
the opportunity afterwards to talk to Darcy about the issues. This was
such a success that he was asked to return the next week.

Darcy meets activist legend Sir Bob Geldof:
Co-founder of Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8, Sir Bob Geldof is no
stranger to the issues that burden Africa. On December 3rd, SFA CEO
Darcy Ataman had the opportunity to sit with Geldof and discuss the
issues surrounding Africa today. At a semi-private luncheon, Darcy had
the chance to talk with Geldof about what SFA has been up to and where
it is going. Sir Bob Geldof seemed quite impressed with SFA’s work and
needless to say, it’s always good to have someone like that on your
side. We hope to work with him on a project for an upcoming G8 summit,
to be held in Canada in 2010.

Help SFA bring holiday cheer to Africa:
SFA would like your help to make this holiday season a cheerful one
for our scholarship recipients. Many of our students have little
family and even less to look forward to. By donating only a few
dollars, you can help bring a smile to a child’s face during this
special time of year. As we are currently in the process of revamping
our website, donations can be made by snail-mail to: SFA/Canadian
Artists for African Aid Inc., 3rd Floor 441 Main St., Winnipeg, MB,
R3B 1B4. Every donation makes a difference.


Upcoming Events for Song for Africa:

New Song for Africa documentary:
One of the reasons Darcy ventured back to Africa was to begin
preliminary work on the second SFA documentary - “Rwanda: Rising Up”.
As he mentions in his letter, this film will focus on the people of
Rwanda and the distance they have come since the genocide fifteen
years ago. Through music, this film will bring awareness to various
health and social issues in Rwanda.

New look for SFA:
The Song for Africa website will be getting a well deserved makeover
over the next couple of weeks with the help of a graphic design team
from Pezus Advanced Web & Graphic Design in Montreal. We are hoping
it will be up and running by January 1st. Make sure to stop by and
check it out and give us your feedback. http://www.pezus.com/index.php


How you can help to make a difference:

We are always looking for volunteers to help out at our events and
fundraisers. If you would like to join our street team, please contact
Ju...@songforafrica.com

To donate to Song for Africa or to purchase SFA merchandise, please
visit our website: www.songforafrica.com All proceeds of t-shirt
sales go towards the SFA Scholarship Fund.

For up to date information about SFA, join our facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Song-For-Africa/19414061788