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Feature :: Afrika Aware
to help: www.afrikaaware.com
June 2002 Article
Revisiting African Lives
by Wesley Chu
One extraordinary reality: In an earth teeming with 9.1 million affected
souls, as bastion to one of Africa’s largest orphan populations, with
majority of its children having lost a parent to the HIV epidemic,
Zambia is a nation in dire need of international aid and attention.
“When you find out what is happening to innocent children every day
in the streets of cities everywhere in Africa, it is very hard to sit
idle while an entire continent dies,” says Bob Brown, techno DJ and
producer and founder of Zambia’s outreach program Fountain of Hope
(founded in 1996), who has led an effort called Afrika Aware-a benefit
CD aimed towards the ears of the techno community with the intention of
bringing together hearts and minds all over for a simple and necessary
cause: creating opportunity for the orphaned children of Zambia.
When life expectancy stands at a trifling 37 years and abandoned
children have amassed to the heavy sum of 1.6 million it is all too
unsettling to become passive observers.
Afrika Aware, a benefit mix CD whose net profits will go to Project
Concern International, shuffles thirty-seven of Bob Brown’s favorite
techno cuts by way of a troika of turntables mixing in productions from
Neil Landstrumm, Oliver Ho, and Brown himself. But contributions from
participating artists are not mere gestures of vanity. As Brown
explains, “ I picked the records that I thought were exceptional. Yes,
the artists on the CD are involved. They have donated their music to
the cause--all royalties are being donated to the project.”
The charity compilation album developed from Bob Brown’s involvement
at Landmark Education’s Self Expression and Leadership program. “In
this course they ask you to create a community project. When I started
looking at the communities in my life, I saw that I wanted to do
something with my music community. As a techno DJ, producer, and record
label owner I wanted to connect with the other producers in the world.
When I thought about what kind of projects I could do on a world wide
scale, I realized that there was no more worthy cause in the world right
now than the African AIDS epidemic. This was something that I felt
anyone, anywhere in the world could rally around.”
Prior to Afrika Aware, Brown had already dipped his hands into affairs
extending his love of music into areas of public welfare. In 1998 and
1999, along with Kevin Gimble, he created the Electronic Music Marathon
for Philadelphia college station WKDU. “We put together over 72 of the
best local dance music DJ's for 72 hours of mayhem,” says Brown of the
DJ marathon. In the end, over $3,000 were raised both years for local
AIDS activists.
Afrika Aware will see worldwide distribution through InterGroove on
June 24. Net profits will see their way to the Fountain of Hope
program. “The primary goal of this project is to create awareness in
the world about the African AIDS epidemic. Knowledge is power.”
-- ECLECTIC Japan [Sound :: Lounge] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoundLoungeMusic :: Movies :: Books http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/subst/your-account/your-open-marketplace-items.html/104-4968682-4350301
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<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <b>Feature :: Afrika Aware</b> <p>to help: www.afrikaaware.com <p>June 2002 Article <br>Revisiting African Lives <br>by Wesley Chu <p>One extraordinary reality: In an earth teeming with 9.1 million affected souls, as bastion to one of Africa’s largest orphan populations, with majority of its children having lost a parent to the HIV epidemic, Zambia is a nation in dire need of international aid and attention. <p> “When you find out what is happening to innocent children every day in the streets of cities everywhere in Africa, it is very hard to sit idle while an entire continent dies,” says Bob Brown, techno DJ and producer and founder of Zambia’s outreach program Fountain of Hope (founded in 1996), who has led an effort called Afrika Aware-a benefit CD aimed towards the ears of the techno community with the intention of bringing together hearts and minds all over for a simple and necessary cause: creating opportunity for the orphaned children of Zambia. <p> When life expectancy stands at a trifling 37 years and abandoned children have amassed to the heavy sum of 1.6 million it is all too unsettling to become passive observers. <p> Afrika Aware, a benefit mix CD whose net profits will go to Project Concern International, shuffles thirty-seven of Bob Brown’s favorite techno cuts by way of a troika of turntables mixing in productions from Neil Landstrumm, Oliver Ho, and Brown himself. But contributions from participating artists are not mere gestures of vanity. As Brown explains, “ I picked the records that I thought were exceptional. Yes, the artists on the CD are involved. They have donated their music to the cause--all royalties are being donated to the project.” <p> The charity compilation album developed from Bob Brown’s involvement at Landmark Education’s Self Expression and Leadership program. “In this course they ask you to create a community project. When I started looking at the communities in my life, I saw that I wanted to do something with my music community. As a techno DJ, producer, and record label owner I wanted to connect with the other producers in the world. When I thought about what kind of projects I could do on a world wide scale, I realized that there was no more worthy cause in the world right now than the African AIDS epidemic. This was something that I felt anyone, anywhere in the world could rally around.” <p> Prior to Afrika Aware, Brown had already dipped his hands into affairs extending his love of music into areas of public welfare. In 1998 and 1999, along with Kevin Gimble, he created the Electronic Music Marathon for Philadelphia college station WKDU. “We put together over 72 of the best local dance music DJ's for 72 hours of mayhem,” says Brown of the DJ marathon. In the end, over $3,000 were raised both years for local AIDS activists. <p> Afrika Aware will see worldwide distribution through InterGroove on June 24. Net profits will see their way to the Fountain of Hope program. “The primary goal of this project is to create awareness in the world about the African AIDS epidemic. Knowledge is power.” <br> <p>-- <br>ECLECTIC Japan <br>[Sound :: Lounge] <A HREF="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoundLounge">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoundLounge> <p>Music :: Movies :: Books <br><A HREF="http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/subst/your-account/your-open-marketplace-items.html/104-4968682-4350301">http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/subst/your-account/your-open-marketplace-items.html/104-4968682-4350301> <br> </html>
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