Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (MMD Newswire) September 11, 2009 -- In solidarity with flood victims of the September 1st catastrophe in Ouagadougou and to raise funds to increase accessibility of clean water to the rural population of Burkina Faso, The BARKA Foundation, an international NGO based in the US and Burkina Faso, announces the first annual Peace, Water & Wisdom Concert & Festival.
Program:
• Saturday, September 19 : « Ouaga Walk for Water » and Concert at Place de la Nation
• Sunday, September 20 : Concert 14 Yaar, Secteur 28
• Monday, September 21 : International Day of Peace ceremony, release of white doves at United Nations Plaza
• Film Festival in cooperation with FESPACO: La Nuit du Verite by Fanta Regina Nacro (Burkina Faso), Peace One Day by Jeremy Gilley (UK), BARKA! BURKINA by Ina & Esu (USA)
The goals of the event are to raise awareness of the International Day of Peace in Burkina Faso, to add Burkina's capitol city of Ouagadougou as an annual destination for top international artists and peace-builders worldwide, to stimulate the achievement of the UN's Millennium Development Goals through the strategic focus of accessibility to clean water for all, and to provide the world's indigenous wisdomkeepers and guardians of spiritual wisdom traditions with a global platform for their timely message to a world in crisis. In the wake of the tragic floods that recently displaced more than 150,000 Burkinabe in Ouagadougou, the event also aims to attract international attention to the dire need for disaster relief.
The event is a manifestation of the BARKA Burkina Consortium, a multi-national, collaborative effort to advance a culture of peace via a new model of eradicating extreme poverty. The Consortium's methodology is community-led and process driven. BARKA Foundation serves as the on-site partner with local populations of the United States and Burkina Faso to co-create an international partnership for mutual development and to build bridges between modern and indigenous technologies. This effort is interfaith and inter-generational and operating with the support of schools, businesses, faith-based organizations, women's associations, NGO's, youth groups, political leaders and UN and government agencies in both the US and Burkina Faso.
The first edition Peace, Water & Wisdom Concert & Festival will exclusively feature Burkinabe artists. 23 artists representing both traditional and modern styles are being declared by BARKA Foundation "Ambassadors of Peace" for their willingness to work for peace and in service of a better world for the children of our future. Inaugural Ambassadors of Peace include: Zoug-Nanzamguemda, Ima Hado & Watinoma, Song Taaba Percussions, Yoni, Solo Dja Kabaco, Sonia Carré D'as, Dick Marcus, Dumba Kultur, Bamos Theo, BazzBill, Djata, Vitalo, Bilgo, Hamad Rabbin, Madess, Petit Velo, Bingui, Nama Jacky, Eric P., Sutong-Nooma, Delwende, Sylvain Dando Pare, Troupe Yendabili du Fada and Rasta Yoni.
BARKA Foundation also introduces its own musical troupe BARKA Wende Music (Thank God Music) during the two concerts of the festival. The Consortium's focus on music is to utilize its universal language to foster peace and intercultural exchange and understanding.
Sponsors and partners of the 1st annual event include Edifice McCann Erickson (marketing), Geofor (well-drilling), Jirma (packaged water), Air Burkina (travel), SMAK International (printing), SOFAS (import/export), BAMIG (technology), Afriq-heur (production), public agencies including Mayor's Office of Ouagadougou, CENASA (cultural arts), FESPACO (film), ONEA (water supply), media partners including OuagaFM, Horizon FM, TVZ, and NGO's including Afrique Jeunesse (Youth), Club Initiatives Citoyennes (youth), Association Watinoma (peace through music), Pathways To Peace (Culture of Peace Initiative), WaterAid Burkina, WASH Coalition (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene), and End Water Poverty.
The 3-day Festival will be videotaped for international distribution through Supreme Master TV and throughout Burkina Faso via TVZ. During the festival BARKA's co-founders Ina & Esu Anahata will receive The Shining World Compassion Award presented by Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association in honor of BARKA's recent 500-mile Peace, Water & Wisdom Walk from the United Nations in NYC to Bangor, Maine. In addition, funds raised by Women with Wings, an all-women's singing group based in Bangor, Maine for BARKA's micro-finance initiative of 87 women in Fada will be distributed as part of the Peace Day festivities.
The event has the blessing of His Majesty the Mogho Naaba, Burkina Faso's highest spiritual authority who accepted to be the event's "Godfather". BARKA Foundation is partnering with the Mayor's Office of the City of Ouagadougou for the mobilization of 5000 people for the "Ouaga Walk for Water", a 5-km walk through the city as a symbolic act of taking personal responsibility for co-creating a culture of peace, beginning with clean water for all. As part of a massive grassroots, online fundraising network, BARKA Foundation will draw on its associations with Culture of Peace Initiative, WiserEarth, Orion Grassroots Network, Idealist.org and its community on Facebook to amplify international awareness of the current crisis in Ouagadougou and the need for funds to make clean water accessible to the country's rural population.
About BARKA Foundation
BARKA Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization based in the US and Burkina Faso and affiliated with the UN Department of Public Information. The organization consists of 25 volunteers in Burkina Faso and 10 volunteers in USA. Current geographical areas of focus are Fada and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Northeast coast of US. BARKA Networks is the foundation's non-profit production arm which produces film, video, photography, music, written works, concerts and tours.
FONDATION BARKA c/o Anne Moffett 12 BP 204 Ouagadougou 12 Burkina Faso, West Africa Phone: 011 226 70 55 29 71
THE BARKA FOUNDATION c/o Ina & Esu P.O. Box 69 Housatonic, MA 01236 Phone: 413-446-7466
InaAndEsu@BARKAfoundation.org - www.barkafoundation.org
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