Last week’s Xeex Sibbiru (Fight Malaria) Song Contest final concert was astounding! It began with an incredibly skilled drumming troupe followed by dancers and traditional singers, and featured performances by Youssou Ndour, Viviane, Carlou D, Philipe Monteiro, other Senegalese artists, and of course the talented Xeex Sibbiru Song Contest finalists.

To my surprise, I arrived to find that producer Bouba Ndour had placed me on the panel of judges. (Thanks for the opportunity, Bouba.) It was a difficult contest to judge, given the various styles of the contestants, but Djibril Diop (pronounced Gibril Jobe) gave an exceptional performance (see video above) that secured his place as the winner. He has a uniquely powerful voice that literally left my ears ringing the first time I heard him sing acapella.

Congratulations Djibril! And thanks to all of the other finalists who sang their hearts out! Djibril Diop will become the Xeex Sibbiru campaign’s new representative in promoting malaria awareness throughout Senegal (and the world) via his own malaria song, a music video, and a performance alongside Youssou Ndour at the Bercy concert hall this Saturday in Paris!

Xeex on,

Adam

Here are two videos showcasing some of the finalists rehearsing on Monday and Tuesday night at Club Yengoulene (”shake youselves”). We’re gearing up for tonight’s show, which I predict will an incredible night!

Xeex on,

Adam Horowitz
Peace Corps Volunteer
Dakar, Senegal

Well, it’s 3:30 a.m. here in Dakar and I just got home from the second long night of rehearsals. It’s been great fun but exhausting for all involved. I didn’t get home last night until 5 o’clock! Tomorrow (or, well, later today) is the final concert!

After I get some sleep, I’ll upload a video of the rehearsals before this evening’s show. For now, though, have a look and listen to these terrific impromptu jam sessions that occurred this past week at Bouba Ndour’s house where the training has been taking place. It’s going to be a fabulous show. More to come very soon!

Xeex on,

Adam Horowitz
(Tired) Peace Corps Volunteer
Dakar, Senegal

P.S. ~ These songs are not about malaria. The contestants were just having some fun. The clips I’ll soon post of the rehearsals, however, will be all about malaria. Don’t you worry.

The finalists are here! They arrived in Dakar last week, and they’re currently training at Bouba Ndour’s house for the final contest which will take place this Wednesday evening. I’ve been hanging out with the contestants and recording some interviews and impromptu jam sessions at Bouba’s house. Check out this video for a taste of the talent that’s in store for the Xeex Sibbiru (Fight Malaria) Song Contest Finale. I’ll put together some more montage’s of the training and the final concert this week!

Stay tuned and xeex on,

Adam Horowitz
Peace Corps Volunteer
Dakar, Senegal

That means “malaria can be finished!” In this video, which was projected onto screens around Senegal during the Xeex Sibbiru Song Contest concerts, Youssou Ndour tells concertgoers to use mosquito nets, seek treatment immediately when they’re sick, and to take all of their medication until it’s finished. That’s how we’ll beat malaria.

The preliminary concerts are done, and the finalists are on their way to Dakar where they’ll spend the week of June 2 to June 9 rehearsing with Bouba Ndour before the final concert on June 9. I’ll be there and will give you some insider views of the rehearsals.

Stay tuned and xeex on!

Adam Horowitz
Peace Corps Volunteer
Dakar, Senegal

Here’s a brief video showing rapper Fou Malad performing at the Xeex Sibbiru Song Contest in Kaolack, Senegal, last month. In the middle of a song, the music stops and he adds a quick plug telling the audience to get to a doctor quickly if they have symptoms of malaria.

As Youssou Ndour explained in a recent Op-Ed describing the concept of getting musicians to raise awareness about malaria,  “We are expected to sing for the voiceless, and I take that responsibility seriously.” He continues, “Our goal: to urge every family to sleep under a mosquito net and to seek timely, effective treatment when needed.” That’s exactly what the Xeex Sibbiru Song Contest is all about, and that’s exactly what Fou Malad (which funnily enough means “crazy sick” in French) helped to do at the concert.

Xeex on,

Adam Horowitz
Peace Corps Volunteer
Dakar, Senegal

Check out this video for some backstage footage of the Xeex Sibbiru (Fight Malaria) Song Contest in St. Louis, Senegal on April 10. It features two musicians from Viviane’s Jolof Band and some of the evening’s contestants rapping/singing freestyle about malaria during the sound check before the show. This will give you a taste of how artists in Senegal are fighting malaria with music. More to come so stay tuned!

Xeex on,

Adam Horowitz,
Peace Corps Volunteer
Dakar, Senegal

Youssou N’Dour recently had an Op-Ed published in the Financial Times, in which he explains how only Africans can ultimately make the difference in the fight against malaria. Check it out below. You can also find the article at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a486edbe-4ce6-11df-9977-00144feab49a.html.

Xeex on!

Adam Horowitz
Peace Corps Volunteer
Dakar, Senegal

Financial Times
Guest column: Local voices in harmony will make all the difference
By Youssou N’Dour
Published: April 22 2010 16:30 | Last updated: April 22 2010 16:30

International funders make an enormous contribution to the well-being of Africa. But they can’t create a different future for our continent on their own.

The reality is that only Africans are in a position to create the kind of transformative cultural change required to solve persistent problems such as poverty, AIDS, and malaria. In other words, encouraging a local voice – or better, many local voices in harmony – makes all the difference.

Here in West Africa, we call our traditional singers “griots.” They are our poets, praise singers and oral historians. I come from a griot family, so music was a calling for me before it was a profession. We are expected to sing for the voiceless, and I take that responsibility seriously.

Recently, I’ve used the visibility afforded by international celebrity to advocate for the eradication of poverty and preventable diseases in West Africa.

There’s nothing new about the urgency of the issues we – the griots of various cultures – bring attention to today: persistent poverty, deadly yet preventable diseases. What is new is the expectation of significant progress on a problem such as malaria, which has been with us for tens of thousands of years.

It is a disease with clear solutions and which the developed world largely eliminated from its lands decades ago. Yet, in Africa, it still kills more than 850,000 people every year and sickens over 200m more. Most of its victims are pregnant women and children below the age of 5 – who represent the future of the continent.

It costs Africa more than $12bn annually in healthcare and lost productivity. This is unacceptable when solutions are available: effective treatments, preventive mosquito nets and targeted use of insecticide spraying.

Governments, such as those of the US and UK, institutions like the Global Fund and the World Bank, and private-sector groups, including ExxonMobil and Sumitomo Chemical, working with the global health community, have, in the past few years, contributed billions of dollars toward the ambitious goal of ending deaths from malaria by 2015.

But the battle will only be won on the front lines: in Africa, by Africans. That is why, earlier this year, I took my fight against malaria from the global stage to the local one.

Together with the non-profit organisation Malaria No More, we began Surround Sound, an education and advocacy project in Senegal. We aim to “surround” the malaria problem by mobilising all sectors of society – local musicians, sports figures, business and religious leaders and, of course, the government. Our goal: to urge every family to sleep under a mosquito net and to seek timely, effective treatment when needed.

I’m proud to report that with the leadership of the government and help of international partners, Senegal has reached an important milestone this year: every child below the age of 5 in my country now has an insecticide-treated mosquito net to sleep under. Now the country has set its sights on covering every man, woman, and child by the end of 2010.

There’s still a lot of work to do, and that’s where I can play a personal role, bringing the message of prevention and treatment to people throughout Senegal.

Xeex Sibbiru (Wolof for “Fight Malaria”), is the name of the cultural movement we’ve started in Senegal. It is a new approach: one that began with a song recorded by six of the top artists in Senegal and which urges practical action and personal responsibility in the fight against malaria.

This past June we hosted the Xeex Sibbiru concert to publicise the distribution of two million mosquito nets by the Senegalese government. The concert was broadcast live nationally from a stadium in one of the poorest neighbourhoods, an area that experiences seasonal, chest-high flooding and the mosquito-borne diseases that inevitably arrive with the rains.

A capacity crowd of 15,000 people – plus several thousand who stood outside the stadium and millions more who listened on radio – heard Senegal’s homegrown talent tell personal, often emotional stories about how malaria has touched their lives. Everyone had a story, though most had never told them before.

Now we’re putting the microphone in the hand of all the people of Senegal, giving voice to their stories about malaria through a national Pop Idol-style song contest. Working with the government and partners, we’ve managed to use every health clinic in the country as an educational outlet and recruiting station for the next generation of malaria griots.

I’m impressed and inspired to see thousands of young people becoming advocates for the cause in their home communities.

The Xeex Sibbiru campaign is having an enormous impact. Millions of people have nets and are using them, where they didn’t before. The director of Senegal’s National Malaria Control Programme, Dr. Pape Moussa Thior, recently told me that he can’t walk down the street anymore without people asking him for mosquito nets. The same thing has begun happening to me. It’s music to our ears.

Check this out! The international news agency, AFP (Agence France-Presse), just posted this video on AFP-TV covering the Xeex Sibbiru (Fight Malaria) Song Contest! Most of the video was filmed at our Senegal Surround Sound office here in Dakar. Enjoy, and we’ll keep you posted with further updates.

Xeex on,
Adam

Last week’s concert in Ziguinchor (the capital of the Ziguinchor region in southern Senegal) went off without a hitch! There were lively performances by the Xeex Sibbiru contestants, Maam Bala of the Gambia, and of course Viviane. We saw our first female winner, Salla Dieye, take the Ziguinchor regional concert. She will be joining the 7 other regional winners at the final concert in Dakar on June 9.

We’ll have more photos and pictures up soon, but for now, here’s a taste of Maam Bala’s performance.

We have five concerts left, starting with Tambacounda and Kaolack this weekend. Some of the most talented musicians in Senegal are coming out to perform. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for more!