BAABA MAAL CALLS FOR FOCUS ON COMBATING POVERTY

World-renowned African music star Baaba Maal joins the BBC World Service Trust in call for renewed focus on creative use of the media and access to information in combating poverty.
Maal will give an exclusive performance and interview Tuesday, 28 September at Nairobi National Museum to highlight the role of media and communication in combating poverty.
Baaba Maal will speak in support of the work of the BBC World Service Trust, the BBC's international development agency, which uses media and communication to reduce poverty and promote human rights.
"In Africa, the first step to combat poverty is to actively enable people to access the information they need. Education is all about getting information out. We need people to be able to raise their voices and be heard on both local and international issues", he says.
The BBC World Service Trust in Africa works across ten countries - including Kenya - reaching millions of people across the continent with life-changing information on health, humanitarian, governance and livelihoods issues.
It produces TV and radio drama, interactive discussion programmes and provides journalism training and support materials to help tackle a range of development concerns.
This creative use of the media can get messages out and give access to vital information on a scale that conventional methods have simply missed.
"We are delighted to be bringing Baaba Maal to Nairobi", says Caroline Ford, Africa Regional Director. "His passionate call for open access to information, education and innovation, and recognition of the power of the media in facilitating lasting social change is echoed in the work and objectives of the BBC World Service Trust."
"Baaba's is a unique African voice, and we are honoured to be working with him" she adds.
Baaba Maal will perform in front of an audience of invited guests at the Nairobi National Museum, following an interview on his career to date, development interests, and plans for the future by the BBC's Tom Japanni.
"My aim is to reach a new generation of young Africans - Africans who have become connected and want to be a force for change", he says. "In Africa, we use music to learn about our history and social responsibilities and actions. I want to use my voice to make Africa (and African issues) more prominent and to show the rest of the world that Africa belongs at the forefront of the 21st century."

BAABA MAAL CALLS FOR FOCUS ON COMBATING POVERTY

World-renowned African music star Baaba Maal joins the BBC World Service Trust in call for renewed focus on creative use of the media and access to information in combating poverty.
Maal will give an exclusive performance and interview Tuesday, 28 September at Nairobi National Museum to highlight the role of media and communication in combating poverty.
Baaba Maal will speak in support of the work of the BBC World Service Trust, the BBC's international development agency, which uses media and communication to reduce poverty and promote human rights.
"In Africa, the first step to combat poverty is to actively enable people to access the information they need. Education is all about getting information out. We need people to be able to raise their voices and be heard on both local and international issues", he says.
The BBC World Service Trust in Africa works across ten countries - including Kenya - reaching millions of people across the continent with life-changing information on health, humanitarian, governance and livelihoods issues.
It produces TV and radio drama, interactive discussion programmes and provides journalism training and support materials to help tackle a range of development concerns.
This creative use of the media can get messages out and give access to vital information on a scale that conventional methods have simply missed.
"We are delighted to be bringing Baaba Maal to Nairobi", says Caroline Ford, Africa Regional Director. "His passionate call for open access to information, education and innovation, and recognition of the power of the media in facilitating lasting social change is echoed in the work and objectives of the BBC World Service Trust."
"Baaba's is a unique African voice, and we are honoured to be working with him" she adds.
Baaba Maal will perform in front of an audience of invited guests at the Nairobi National Museum, following an interview on his career to date, development interests, and plans for the future by the BBC's Tom Japanni.
"My aim is to reach a new generation of young Africans - Africans who have become connected and want to be a force for change", he says. "In Africa, we use music to learn about our history and social responsibilities and actions. I want to use my voice to make Africa (and African issues) more prominent and to show the rest of the world that Africa belongs at the forefront of the 21st century."

ERIC WAINAINA FEATURING BAABA MAAL LIVE AT THE DOME!

A live concert by Africa’s finest is scheduled on September 28 at the Sarakasi Dome and will feature Eric Wainaina and Senegalese star Baaba Maal.
Eric’s love for music started at a young age. Whilst growing up, he was influenced musically by international artists such as Papa Wemba, Youssou N’Dour, Lokua Kanza and Paul Simon. His career was launched with his debut album, Sawa Sawa, in 2001. Eric first stepped into the world of music with Five Alive, an a cappella group. His music is a blend of Kenyan Benga rhythm and East African guitars, with some modern harmony. His notable releases include Kenya Only, a song that instantly made him Kenya’s favourite modern musician.
After the 1998 terrorist bombing in Nairobi where over 200 Kenyans lost their lives and the botched 2007 presidential elections, Kenya Only was adopted as the unofficial song of mourning, receiving extensive radio and TV airplay nation-wide.
Other releases are Nchi ya Kitu Kidogo, his 21- song musical theatre piece, Lwanda, Man of Stone, his album Twende Twende and the musical Mo Faya.
Baaba Maal is a uniquely talented singer from Senegal. Baaba comes from humble beginnings but he has learned and travelled and now speaks and sings of empowerment, enlightenment and peace. Baaba Maal was born in Podor, a town with a population of 6,000, on the banks of the river Senegal that separates the country of the same name from Mauritania. Baaba's family is Hal Pulaar, known in the English speaking world as Fulani. He is not from a Griot family (the hereditary caste of artists and communicators). His father worked in the fields but was also given the honour and responsibility of using songs to call the worshippers to the mosque. Baaba's mother was a musician who sang and wrote her own songs educating her son in the musical forms of the area and encouraging the young Baaba to value intelligent and thoughtful lyrics. He currently is in the international spotlight as one of the world's hottest performers; most of the audiences here will remember him during the 2008 Sawa Sawa Festival edition where he gave an enthralling performance at Arboretum.

ERIC WAINAINA FEATURING BAABA MAAL LIVE AT THE DOME!

A live concert by Africa’s finest is scheduled on September 28 at the Sarakasi Dome and will feature Eric Wainaina and Senegalese star Baaba Maal.
Eric’s love for music started at a young age. Whilst growing up, he was influenced musically by international artists such as Papa Wemba, Youssou N’Dour, Lokua Kanza and Paul Simon. His career was launched with his debut album, Sawa Sawa, in 2001. Eric first stepped into the world of music with Five Alive, an a cappella group. His music is a blend of Kenyan Benga rhythm and East African guitars, with some modern harmony. His notable releases include Kenya Only, a song that instantly made him Kenya’s favourite modern musician.
After the 1998 terrorist bombing in Nairobi where over 200 Kenyans lost their lives and the botched 2007 presidential elections, Kenya Only was adopted as the unofficial song of mourning, receiving extensive radio and TV airplay nation-wide.
Other releases are Nchi ya Kitu Kidogo, his 21- song musical theatre piece, Lwanda, Man of Stone, his album Twende Twende and the musical Mo Faya.
Baaba Maal is a uniquely talented singer from Senegal. Baaba comes from humble beginnings but he has learned and travelled and now speaks and sings of empowerment, enlightenment and peace. Baaba Maal was born in Podor, a town with a population of 6,000, on the banks of the river Senegal that separates the country of the same name from Mauritania. Baaba's family is Hal Pulaar, known in the English speaking world as Fulani. He is not from a Griot family (the hereditary caste of artists and communicators). His father worked in the fields but was also given the honour and responsibility of using songs to call the worshippers to the mosque. Baaba's mother was a musician who sang and wrote her own songs educating her son in the musical forms of the area and encouraging the young Baaba to value intelligent and thoughtful lyrics. He currently is in the international spotlight as one of the world's hottest performers; most of the audiences here will remember him during the 2008 Sawa Sawa Festival edition where he gave an enthralling performance at Arboretum.