[James]

So I'm toying with the idea of doing a custom calendar.

The idea is:
1) we all put forward photos related to djembe drums, drumming, Mande culture etc....
2) we vote the 12 best photos to the top of the pile.
3) we put together a custom wall calendar, sell it and give it to proceeds to a charity.

Who's into the idea?

How much would you pay for such a calendar?

Nominate worthwhile causes that the money could go to?

Any other ideas?

[the kid]

Good idea

I'd be into it and have a load of photos.

I'm thinking unless you do it real quick it won't be ready in time for crimbo.

[michi]

I like the idea! I'd pay up to $40 for something like that, provided that a substantial chunk of the money goes to a worthwhile cause. I haven't done any research, but I suspect that there would be no shortage of NGOs or specific projects in Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, etc. to give money to.

One problem might be clearing the copyright for the pictures, unless they are all shots that we have taken personally.

Cheers,

Michi.

[bubudi]

it would be great for the charity to be one that does health education work, specifically on hiv/aids or fgc/fgm. it doesn't have to be a west african organisation but i think the organisation should at least include west africa in its operations. does anyone know of such an organisation?

[James]

I know Helen in the US collects money to bring to Sangbrala every year.

I also know of Jean-Mar's charity. He bring money to Bobo every year. Does Keanie or Paul know anything about that?

[Michel]

Great idea!

Maybe it is an idea to something back for all the trees that have to be cut for our djembé's? And it might be an idea to print the calendar on recycled paper. I would a bunch of them for my class immediately! for 40 dollars each!
Michiel

[the kid]

Keanie knows small small....

Whats the name of this charity... La Roue Tourne..

This is an interesting project. Its a charity set up with the intention of providing education,support,facilities and opportunities to disadvantaged peoples living in a poverity stricken region.

Jean Marcs charity is based in Bobo, Burkinofaso and helps polio victims and street children. he and some friends have been working with the local community in building the charity over the last 8 years. He raises money in france and ireland and then goes down there to put it to good use.
So they bought some land there and have built a bakery, workshops and classrooms.

He organised loads of activities to raise money including music festivals, drumming workshops, Busking sessions etcetc. Individuals who were interested in the charity and helping out in Africa were encouraged to make an effort and perform a project to raise money or to travel down to bobo to help out.

I'd say all the drummers in ireland have helped Jean Marc at some stage. But he helped us greatly too and inspired many to take the plunge in W Africa.

Good news is that he has gotten recognition from the local government in Bobo. It took a while but now he has officials who will help him out with different projects. He has also registered the charity in europe so it is fully legal and above board.

I beieve that the project was finally a success as it is now self sufficient and can run itself with local managers etc. It can continue to help the homeless children and the polio victims can help them selves due to the facilities and support of the center.

Niall has short video on his vimeo or youtube channel.

[Nodrog]

Hi there,

I'd pay between 30-39 partly because it's for a good cause and also, it's gonna be a lot of hard work for someone.

Gordon.

[Marc_M]

I like sentiments, but I would prefer to give the money directly to Helen for an instance. I tried to donate to Helen's charity through paypal. Does any one know how I can donate to her charity directly?

[James]

I like sentiments, but I would prefer to give the money directly to Helen for an instance. I tried to donate to Helen's charity through paypal. Does any one know how I can donate to her charity directly?

I understand you, but this has the potential to leverage the generosity of many and therefore could be more benefit. I think you may misunderstand the intention here.

It's not that djembefola.com will create and sell a calendar. If I wanted to do that I would do it for profit, but it could be a cool community project. In fact it may be an idea to partner with one of the big online drum sellers to make use of their distribution system and experience.

An idea that just occurred to me there is that I could create the calendar in PDF and allow it to be downloaded by the buyer and printed by the buyer... Dunno if that would work or be popular, but would make things a lot easier... In this case could make it "givewhateversinyourheart" dollars directly to the charity's paypal...

Or it could be a combination of the 2 ...

To be absolutely clear the intention would be to give absolutely all profits to the charity selected.

I'm not too worried about time lines. The printers are all extremely busy coming up to Christmas, so I would be happy to run a calendar that goes from March to February, what would it matter

[e2c]

I hear you about the time line, but... chances are it'll draw more interest if you do it in a fairly standard format. People might want to buy it as a gift, too - which would probably be more appealing if it was (more or less) following the calendar year from start to finish.

[James]

I'm in the process of looking at the logistics, like printing and prices...

If you have photos that you'd like to include, please email them to me at james at djembefola.com

High res isn't necessary at this stage, but you will need to have high res versions for the calendar printing itself.