Executive Summary
The non-profit organization Song for Africa/Canadian Artists for African Aid Inc. (CAFAA) was created in February 2007. Their objective is to educate Canadians on humanitarian issues in Africa, and to inspire change. In collaboration with local contacts on the ground, CAFAA will bring the reality of everyday life in Africa to a Canadian audience. The brainchild of Darcy Ataman, it seeks to build upon previous initiatives such as the ‘Song for Africa’ record and documentary. Members of the Canadian entertainment industry as well as private sector donors, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations, both in Africa and Canada, have created meaningful partnerships in order to help spread the message.

Over the past several years, it has come to the attention of certain key industry players involved in the Canadian Music Industry, that the aids pandemic in Africa has become a worldwide call for concern. It is now a statistical fact that over 21.8 million deaths have occurred since the beginning of the aids pandemic. It has also become harsh reality and statistic to report that over 4.3 million children have been killed by the aids pandemic since it’s beginning. Furthermore, there are over 18 million orphan children living in the world who have lost their parents due to the aids crisis. It has also been suggested that over 6600 people are dying daily from this disease. These are just a few statistics that have been published in recent months suggesting that there is a real cause for worldwide concern.

With the above facts in mind, representatives based in the Canadian music industry including top recording artists, writers, producers and media have felt the need to utilize their powerful influence in the Canadian popular culture and mass media to raise awareness and call Canadian citizens to action all over the country, those who are not aware of the aids pandemic occurring throughout the world, with a specific focus on Africa.

Song for Africa Background
In the spring of 2006, several up and coming and popular Canadian musicians came together to write and record a music single and video called A Song For Africa to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. These artists included Billy Talent, Choclair, Damnhait Doyle, Kyle Riabko, Not By Choice, Luke McMaster, Big Sugar, Simon Wilcox, Rob Wells and Easily Amused. On August 13, 2006, the single and video premiered at The International AIDS Conference in Toronto, ON in front of 30,000 delegates. Since its premier, the music video has been in medium rotation on Much Music and the single has placed #2 on the Canadian Music Charts. Several radio and television stations including CHUM FM, E Talk Canada, ET Canada, CTV News, CBC News, Global TV and Much Music have all been extremely instrumental in lending their support to furthering the success of this project and raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic in Africa.

It is intended that this documentary will be an example of how Canadians can make a difference regarding the plight of Africa. The main goal of this documentary will be to present the issues surrounding the AIDS pandemic to Canadian youth and to offer them examples and resources required to create and design their own initiatives in the fight against AIDS and the developmental issues surrounding the continent.