African Dinner-Dance Party Will Raise

                                                                       
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2011
 
“Send a Net, Save a Life”
Cocktail Dance Party and Silent Auction Set for April 16, 2011
Proceeds to benefit the Bonjour Africa Malaria Project
 
(DURHAM, N.C.) -  “Send a Net, Save a Life.”  That’s the theme of a unique fundraising event taking place next month in Durham, NC.

Hosted by a Durham-based non-profit Bonjour Africa Projects, Inc., this is the ninth annual Bonjour Africa Malaria Project (BAMP) benefit to raise money to help stop the spread of malaria in Senegal by sending life-saving bed nets. This year’s event takes place on Saturday, April 16, 2011 from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m.

"Every year, malaria destroys nearly 3 million lives, mostly children," explains BAMP's President Bouna Ndiaye, a native of Senegal. "But I have personally seen the life-saving impact that insecticide-treated bed nets, like the ones BAMP distributes in Senegal, can have on a child, a family, a community, and a whole village."

Malaria is a tropical disease transmitted by mosquito bites. According The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), up to 50 percent of all hospital admissions in Africa are caused by malaria. But incidents of the disease can be reduced significantly by providing insecticide-treated bed nets that protect children and pregnant mothers while they sleep.

There is a particularly urgent need for bed nets in Senegal where geographic location, proximity to conflict-ridden countries, and poverty all factor into high vulnerability to the disease. Almost 30 percent of all child deaths in Senegal are due to malaria, according to UNICEF.

Widespread use of insecticide-treated bed nets, which can cost as little as $10 each, has succeeded in cutting malaria deaths in half, in some places, according to a report from the World Health Organization.

 

The Senegalese Government and its partners, including BAMP, have strongly promoted bed net use as a way to thwart this deadly disease. As a result, more than 27 percent of
the population sleep under bed nets treated with insecticide. If treated once every six months, these bed nets provide a high degree of protection from malaria.

The theme, “Send a Net, Save a Life,” establishes the cause for the BAMP event, but the organizers promise to provide good food and fun as well. Attendees will enjoy heavy hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar, and a musical performance by Senegalese Kora player Djali Cissokho. A silent auction for special gifts, art objects and prizes takes place during the event. To donate an item, contact Beth Keena at b_keena@yahoo.com or at 919-942-3404.

After the food and entertainment, dancing starts with deejay Bouna Ndiaye playing a wide assortment of African and Afro-Cuban pop music. Ndiaye is the host of the popular Bonjour Africa music show heard every Sunday from 4 – 6:00pm on WNCU 90.7FM.

Since 2006, BAMP has raised more than $40,000 which has purchased many thousands of bed nets.  For more information about BAMP or to purchase event tickets, please contact Bouna Ndiaye at bonjourafrica@hotmail.com or www.bonjourafricaprojects.org. Tickets for the event are $25.
 
About the Bonjour Africa Projects, Inc.
Founded in 2006, the Bonjour Africa Projects, Inc. (BAMP) is a 501C- 3 non-profit organization, which hopes to develop the spiritual, mental and physical expertise of North Carolina’s youth through African music. BAMP also seeks to engage in cultural exchange and philanthropic outreach in health, education and arts efforts between Africa and North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.bonjourafricaprojects.com.

WHAT: Bonjour Africa Malaria Project’s “Send a Net to Save a Life” Cocktail Dance Party and Silent Auction
WHEN: Saturday, April 16, 2011
TIME: 7:00pm – 12:00am
WHERE: Freelon Group at
3510 S. Alston Ave., Building 300, Suite 320
Durham, NC 27713

ADMISSION: $25
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.bonjourafricaprojects.org

For ticket information or other details about the African Dinner-Dance, please contact Bouna Ndiaye at (919) 215-4765 or bonjourafrica@hotmail.com.  please visit us on the web at www.bonjourafricaprojects.org.

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