Music For Mali Benefit Gig.
The Sugar Club, Lower Leeson Street Dublin 2.  August 7th, 2008. 8.30 pm €12 at the door. Featuring : Hoarserbox  Thomas Kitt and dj Enda ( Firehouse Skank)
In Aid of Malian refuge for young unmarried mothers and the Malian Educational Fund. 

         
Contact:  Jim Sperin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone:  [086 8265 436]
Sent 22.07.08
Email:  [jsperin@gmail.com]



The Gig;
Following on from the runaway success of last years gig in the Cobble Stone this year we’ve gone bigger and better. With an impressive line up that includes, well known and respected DJ Enda of Firehouse Skank fame and Thomas Kitt, whose latest CD “Kitt happens” was  recently awarded 4 stars by Hotpress magazine. For more details on Thomas check him out www.myspace.com and www.thomaskitt.com. 

Top of the bill are Hoarsebox who have been cooking up a storm lately on the live music scene.  Hoarsebox have already played all over Ireland and also in the UK, including a support tour with The Stranglers, and Irish artists such as Boss Volenti, as well as headline gigs at Spiegeltent, Button Factory, Whelans and other well-known Irish venues. 

The band have just released their Cuckooland EP (June 08) along with the single “Rosey”, which is already receiving airplay on quite a few stations nationally. Right through the summer they will complete an Irish tour including some great festival dates, including sharing the stage with Jools Holland in Kilkenny, and playing 3 nights at The Edinburgh Festival - before heading west for their first set of tour dates in the US in September. Check out www.hoarsebox.com AND www.myspace.com/hoarsebox for more details, and to hear some of their Cuckooland EP.

The project in Mali;
The refuge and educational fund are based in, and operated from, Mopti, a small town in the West African State of Mali; the 4th poorest country in the world.  Yeredeme, the word means “Help Ourselves” in Bambara the local language, is a centre for very young unmarried mothers previously living on the streets of Mopti. They operate a small restaurant and make and sell jam, dried fruit, meat and Shea Butter, a natural skin cream.  Some of the girls are as young as 14 or 15, many were destitute and stories of rape among them were common. Others, due to lack of education, didn’t even understand where their children came from.  While there is a very strong tradition of the family as the centre of society in Mali it is a Muslim country and this has a considerable effect on the treatment the  girls receive and the way they are perceived by the community at large. There is still enormous social stigma around the girls in some sections of the community and there was considerable local opposition to the project when it opened. 

At Yeredeme the girls can work without harassment, receive certification for the training they receive and bring in a small wage. This last point is very important, given the poverty most of the girls live in. Many live in one room houses of mud, with no running water or electricity. Many come from large extended families of 12 or 15 people where any extra mouths to feed are a considerable burden. 

Literacy levels in Mali are shockingly low. Only 19% of the population  can read or write and of that figure on 12% are women. Education in Mali is not free  and in a country of often absolute poverty it is difficult for parents to see the long term benefits of sending a child to school when they are needed is bread winners here and now; often, often when there is nothing to eat. Money From the fund is paid directly to the schools. The fund helps in the education of local children in a particularly poor part of Mopti. The girls at Yeredeme, and their children, also have access to the fund.

In the last three years I have raised almost € 5000 for both projects. Several of the girls, who were previously living on the streets, are now in full time education in Bamako, the capital.  

 Facts and figures about Mali 

* Mali is the 4th poorest country in the world.
* The average wage is €250 per year.
* The infant mortality rate in Ireland is 5 deaths per 1000 births, in Mali its 134, the highest in Africa 
* 25% of children suffer with malnutrition.
* The average life expectancy is 49 for men and 51 for women.
* There about 6 landline telephones, 10 TVs and 40 radios per 1000 people. 
* In Ireland there are approximately 3 doctors per 1000 people. In Mali there are 22,500 per trained doctor. 
* There is one pass machine in the entire country.

 ENDS