Red Cross Blogs

A song for Haiti from Cameroon: turning vision into reality

By Victoria Watts
June 8, 2010 at 1:30 pm

Musician Jo N’Gala couldn’t sit back and watch the crisis of Haiti unfold. He wanted to do his bit to make a difference, so he turned to what he knows best – music and compassion – for the answer. And he was astonished by what he found. I talked to him to find out how his vision became reality.

How did you come up with the idea for the song?

I clearly remember that night. I couldn’t sleep and was trying to find an interesting TV programme to watch. I turned to CNN and found the horrific news of the Haiti earthquake. I found myself crying. It reminded me of the catastrophe of Lake Nyos that killed thousands in Cameroon in 1986. I was young at the time, but I have learnt from it that the world is a very big family that has to help each other. In the same way that a family helps each other, other countries helped mine, and when I heard about Haiti, I realised I wanted to do something to help the people there. As I’m a musician, a piece of music seemed like the best way to do that.

What’s the idea behind the song?

The song is a humanitarian appeal that I hope will remind people to be close to others – to jog our universal conscience to help and be kind. That’s why I named it 4love 4ever 2gether – we are all part of humanity regardless of skin colour, nationality, religion or gender, and we should love each other regardless of those things, and express that love by helping others.

How did you go about making the song?

I’m a musician by trade – I write, compose and sing songs; play the guitar and percussion; and produce music – so I already had the skills necessary to actually create the song, but I wanted to involve more people so I looked to others for help and wrote to loads of organisations.

I approached CRTV, the national radio and television company in Cameroon, and they agreed to become a partner for the project and help promote it.

I also got in touch with loads of artists and organisations that might donate their services for free.

In the end, I found 60 artists to sing and play on the track voluntarily; the Muna foundation donated the recording studio; and Steve Ndzana (a famous drum player in Cameroon) donated the rehearsal space. Once we had recorded the song we just needed to get it out to the public.

And how did you do that?

Together with CRTV and the Cameroon Red Cross, I organised for a two-hour telethon of live performances to be broadcast on 11 February 2010 that would drive donations to the Haiti Appeal. Our song 4love 4ever 2gether was the main performance for the event and was sung twice by all the artists and the audience too. The event raised just over £7000 in total.

What next?

I am now looking to promote the song in the UK and am talking to the British Red Cross about arranging another concert – watch this space!

Why did you choose the Red Cross?

The Red Cross seems to me such a symbol of love and impartiality. It’s always there to help and it was already involved in helping Haiti when I came up with the song. At the telethon, the Cameroon Red Cross recognised my contribution by making me an official goodwill ambassador for it, which I was really honoured by.

And finally, do you have any top tips for other fundraisers?

I was wonderfully surprised by how willing the people I contacted were to use their talent. It taught me that all that was needed was someone to initiate the project. I think anyone can come up with an idea to help humanity. The world needs people to keep the humanitarian spirit alive by promoting it everywhere around the world: in the family, in school, in the street, in the workplace. We have to use all the tools necessary, such as music, because if we miss this opportunity, we are paving the way for a negative culture.

Listen to Jo’s music on My Space

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Tags: fundraising, fundraising events, fundraising ideas, fundraising tips

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