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Emmy-award winning musician and philanthropist Peter Buffett has teamed up with UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Grammy award-winning musician Angelique Kidjo, to release “A Song For Everyone” on February 12th. 100% of proceeds from the sale of the song will benefit the Batonga Foundation, an organization founded by Angelique to advance education for girls in Africa.
Fans of Peter’s pop/rock and new age-influenced music can expect to be pleasantly surprised by the new dimension that Angelique’s signature worldly sound brings to the single. Writing in their respective native tongues, the uplifting, vibrant song has lyrics in both English and Yoruba.
Peter and Angelique encourage fans to share the music with friends and support the Batonga Foundation simultaneously, by using the “gift” function on iTunes or Peter’s online store at peterbuffett.com/store. Every cent helps: 2 downloads buys a girl a math set; 3 downloads buys a girl lunch during the school day; 5 downloads buys a girl a textbook; 10 downloads buys a girl a school bag or uniform; and 1,000 downloads pays school fees for an entire classroom of 45 girls to go to school for a year!
The Batonga Foundation gives girls a secondary school and higher education so they can take leadership roles in Africa. They are doing this by granting scholarships, building secondary schools, increasing enrollment, improving teaching standards, providing school supplies, supporting mentor programs, exploring alternative education models, and advocating for community awareness of the value of education for girls by addressing gender prejudice. The foundation currently has an active presence in the countries of Benin, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mali, and Sierra Leone. The name “Batonga” stems from a word Angelique made up as a response to taunts when she was going to school-- the boys didn’t know what the word meant, but to her it was an assertion of the rights of girls to education. To donate to the foundation, please visit batongafoundation.org/donate.
“Collaborating with Angelique was a wonderful surprise - her passion, energy and commitment - both to her music and in support of girl's education was incredibly inspiring,” says Peter Buffett.
Angelique states, “Our ancestors fought for our freedom and the pride of human kind. Each one of us has a responsibility to hold the torch and pass it on intact to the next generation.” She hopes to give the next generation of young African girls the chance to realize their dreams and create a better future for their children through her work with Batonga.
Peter’s social action site, IsThereSomethingICanDo.com, has recently partnered with Do Something and is currently working towards a site re-launch this spring. Fans can visit Do Something’s “Celebs Gone Good” blog to see behind-the-scenes video of Angelique and Peter, at dosomething.org/celebsgonegood.
About Peter Buffett
Peter Buffett is an Emmy Award-winning composer, producer and philanthropist. His tireless work with numerous non-profit organizations has made him into a well-known activist for social concerns. Previous human rights-driven music collaborations for Buffett include “Blood Into Gold" featuring Grammy-nominated recording artist Akon, which debuted at a special concert at the UN General Assembly. Buffett is the only man to have performed at Eve Ensler’s 10th Anniversary V-Day celebration, and is currently performing his “Life is What You Make It: A Concert & Conversation w/ Peter Buffett” series around the country. Buffett has launched his own social network community, peterbuffett.com/ning, to release new material to his exclusive network of fans on a monthly basis. His first book, Life Is What You Make It, is slated for release in April 2010 through Harmony Books. The book takes on themes of following passions over conventions, and how part of life’s journey can be found in the process of giving back. Life Is What You Make It is now available for pre-order at Random House.
About Angelique Kidjo
Benin-born Angelique Kidjo has been deemed "Africa's premier diva" by Time Magazine, and has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the past 8 years. Ms. Kidjo has won a number of music awards including the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music for her album Djin Djin, and in the same year received Benin’s Commander of National Order of Merit for loyal services to the nation. Kidjo has campaigned for Oxfam at the Hong Kong WTO meeting for their Fair Trade Campaign, participated in the video for the ‘In My Name Campaign’ with Will I Am from The Black Eyed Peas, and is one of the LiveEarth Ambassadors for the 2010 ‘Run For Water’ events along with Jessica Biel and Pete Wentz. Since March 2009, Kidjo has been campaigning for "Africa for women's rights"–a movement launched by The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH). In September of 2009, UNICEF and Pampers launched the ‘Give the Gift of Life’ campaign to eradicate Tetanus and asked Kidjo to produce a song, “You Can Count On Me,” where each download of the song donates a vaccine to a mother or mother-to-be.
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