Song for Africa

SFA Projects

Brand new SFA single "Beautiful" now released to radio & iTunes

Tim Edwards, lead singer of Canadian rockers Crash Parallel and member of the latest SFA efforts in Rwanda, has teamed up with the local Rwandan group Holy Jadoves. The single Beautiful has been released to radio across Canada and will be available on iTunes for purchase April 27th!! This joint effort truly is a proud achievement for all peoples involved and we plan to keep spreading the message of hope Show your support by requesting Beautiful on the radio and buying the single on iTunes - this music truly makes a difference in people's lives. Support SFA Programs by purchasing the song on iTunes here: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/id368242397.

Rwanda: Rises Up! Coming Soon on Citytv

SFA's second feature documentary is in the final stages and everyone is excited to show our supporters how far we've come! With a line-up of artists featuring Tim Edwards of Crash Parallel, Sarah Slean, Steve Bays from Vancouverites Hot Hot Heat, and chanteuse Damhnait Doyle, Rwanda: Rises Up! raises the bar and shows Canadians how even after the horrific events of the Rwandan genocide, these people come together and rise up. Rwanda is a changed nation, and these resilient people are proud of who they are and what they are doing - come share the experience on Citytv this June!

Song for Africa CD Single

sfa 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, 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 Documentary # 1

Following the success of the Song for Africa CD single, a professional video team led by Savant Productions, Derek Horn and Generator Films produced the Song for Africa Documentary. Musicians who were involved in the original music single traveled to Kenya in the summer of 2007 to capture everyday stories from those affected by the AIDS pandemic. Featured artists included Ian D'sa (Billy Talent), Damhnait Doyle, Luke McMaster and Simon Wilcox. The musicians participated in Free The Children’s holistic Adopt a Village program. They also participated in CARE Kenya’s Local Links venture program in Kibera. The social development projects explored in the documentary are designed to assist Kenya in achieving the Millennium Development Goals of reducing under-five mortality rates, maternal mortality rates, reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other major infectious diseases through promoting preventive health care.

The documentary presents Kenya, its people and developmental issues in a new light to Canada’s young people. Along with a teacher’s manual, it is being disseminated by CTV’s Distribution Access through school systems across the country.

Follow Up

On September 27th, 2008, Song for Africa broadcast their documentary across Canada courtesy of Citytv in target markets of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Toronto. The subsequent marketing campaign surrounding this documentary achieved significant reach and impact in our target segments and markets. This combined effort led to viewership of 30,000+ households across Canada for the documentary alone.

Our traditional advertising reached our targets across Canada, with multiple exposures in Toronto and Winnipeg. The creation and implementation of a Song for Africa public service announcement will continue to air on Citytv networks throughout the year maintaining our exposure and frequency across Canada. Our combined marketing efforts ensured that the broadcast of the documentary was a success and generated significant media interest and exposure for an organization 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.

Past Events

Celebrity Art Auction – April 2009

In the spring of 2009, Song for Africa hosted an online Celebrity Art Auction which raised funds for the SFA Scholarship Fund. Check out all the beautiful pieces of art here on our Facebook page. We successfully auctioned off pieces by Simon Wilcox, Stephen Carroll of The Weakerthans, a media collage by Serena Ryder & Damhnait Doyle, and a beautiful acrylic painting created by Rob Pasalic of Saint Alvia. The first event took place through SFA’s virtual store on eBay in April of 2009 and we plan on continuing this trend in 2010 with more beautiful art for auction. Thanks to all the artists who are truly making a difference. Keep it up!

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 DJs, 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 2006

During 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.