African Rythms Benefit Shows Coming March 2011

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Kyla Malone

Two Exciting Performances!

Saturday March 26, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Cronin Auditorium at the Bromfield School
14 Massachusetts Avenue (Rte 111)
Harvard, MA, 01451

Sunday March 27, 2011 at 5:00 pm
King Open School
850 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
(between Inman Square and Lechmere Square)

This year, you can buy tickets in advance from Brown Paper Tickets, the fair-trade ticketing company. Tickets will be available for purchase online until 5 pm on March 25. Seating is limited, so buy your tickets now:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/158407

Performers this year include the Teriya Dance Company; Troupe Teranga, under the direction of Alice Heller; The “Hip-Hop Mamas” from Sudbury, led by Elizabeth Bernstein; Khary Green and the KaGe Dance Group; and Michele Laura’s young dancers, Joyful Movement KidzDance, plus a contemporary piece choreographed to kora music by Kara Fili. A fantastic group of drummers will be led by Malian Master Drummer Moussa Traore.

Dances and music from Mali, Guinea, Senegal, and South Africa

Malian Master Drummer Moussa Traore

Drummers and dancers will perform dances from Mali, Guinea, Senegal, and South Africa; the dances are representative of different ethnic groups and a variety of celebrations. The show will begin with a beautiful photo journal of Mali, and the program includes a showing of brief photo documentaries of the school building projects already completed.

African Marketplace

There will also be vendor tables selling a variety of crafts and jewelery. 100% of the profits from ticket and craft sales will go to Build a School in Africa to help us build our 8^th and 9^th schools in Mali, West Africa. All contributions are tax-deductible.

This high-energy show has always received rave reviews from the audience, and we invite you to share this dynamic experience with us. It’s a show the whole family can enjoy.

Ticket prices are $15 for Adults, $5 for children under 12, and will be available at the door, space allowing.

For more information, contact Judy Lorimer, Project Director, at 978-433-2384, or email jmlorimer@juno.com.

Wassalounka with dancers Katie Pina, Julia Sundari, Lisa Wiesner, Judy Lorimer, photo by Nancy Lededzinski.

Tickets Avaliable for African Rythms Fundraisers

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Kyla Malone

Tickets are now available for the 10^th Anniversary of our African Rythms show in the Boston area. This special event will feature traditional and contemporary music and dance from the African Diaspora, including traditional West African dances, Hip-hop and Afro-Fusion.

Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Cronin Auditorium
The Bromfield School
14 Massachusetts Avenue (Rte 111)
Harvard, MA, 01451

Sunday March 27, 2011 at 5:00 pm
**Special Matinee Show
King Open School
850 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02141

Visit Brown Paper Tickets to buy your tickets now! For more information about the shows, click here.

Malaika Thorne in Dansa, photo courtesy of the Harvard Post.

New School in 2009: Mounkonkoro, Mali

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Kyla Malone

Judy Lorimer from Build a School in Africa visited Mali in November with our annual contribution to help build our 5^th school. Save the Children hosted a ceremony on November 18th to lay the first brick for a new elementary school in the village of Mounkonkoro. Our project this year was helped greatly by the Binnie family from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Their two sons, Adam and Dylan, with their Dad Bill’s support, raised $10,000 this summer. This donation, plus the $9,000 raised by Build a School In Africa, will provide about 2/3 of the funding for the new school building.

Mounkonkoro is a village northwest of Sikasso, populated by the members of the Senufo ethnic group. Last year Save the Children built one three-room school in the village, and this year we are adding 3 more classrooms, so they will have a complete primary school for grades 1 – 6. At the Binnie’s request, the new school will be named for Christine Laidlaw.

Welcome to Mounkonkoro, site of our 5th school – in partnership with Save the Children and the Binnie family of Portsmouth, NH

Senufo Balafon players

High-tech transport for sacks of cement

The school foundation is dug with pick & shovel

Cinder blocks for the new school. The first school building is in the background, for grades 4, 5, and 6. The new school will house grades 1, 2, and 3.

Grinding millet in Sintani, using smooth stones to crush the grains

Fulani women in Sintani

Build a School in Africa volunteer Judy Lorimer with Assetou Diarra, her new sponsored child.