In Cameroon, Africa, a small orphanage is single-handedly supported by the career of a celebrity.
Said celebrity is no Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt, but rather Seta, a Cameroonian musician who has capitalized on his local rise to fame to help raise 40 orphans through the A Better World organization.
Although Seta has a large following in Cameroon and surrounding countries, he is relatively unknown in the United States and other places abroad.
UConn Empower wants to change that.
The student organization within the University of Connecticut started their campaign to promote Seta with a benefit concert in the Student Union Theater Sunday.
“The mission of UConn Empower is to empower non-government organizations abroad in Southeast Asia and Africa, like A Better World, and essentially to help people help themselves,” said Laura Dellalana, a UConn junior and the chief financial officer of the group. “So we’re not just providing supplies, instead we’re providing tools and helping them to build off of that.”
UConn Empower came in contact with A Better World last year, which culminated when the group ran a trip to the orphanage in Cameroon with several Empower members.
Earlier this semester, they helped Seta put his music on iTunes and Reverb Nation.
“Ideally, we’re trying to be his liaison in America. We want to make him more popular and have people buy his albums because the money goes directly to him, which he uses for the orphanage. We want people to know his story,” said Hannah Suits, a UConn sophomore and trip director for Empower.
While in Cameroon, Empower members worked closely with Seta.
A few students, including Suits, even provided some vocals for his track, “Aliwaa,” in which he also mentions UConn Empower.
“He’s on the radio in Africa. People know him and he’s pretty famous,” said Suits. “A lot of people don’t know that he runs an orphanage for 40 children. Therefore, he has to turn down a lot of contracts. He can’t go out and sign to these big record labels because he’d have to move and travel all of the time when he has 40 children to take care of.”
The concert featured performances from four diverse UConn groups, as well as compilations of video clips from Empower’s trip to Cameroon.
The acts were asked to incorporate Seta’s work into their performances.
Members of UConn Empower started the show by providing an introduction about the mission of the concert and the club itself.
Following this, the UConn Irish club kicked off the concert with an Irish step dancing routine choreographed to one of Seta’s songs.
The second performance was from members of UConn Surya, a dance group that blends traditional Indian and modern Western music. UConn Surya danced to a remix of Seta’s songs combined with Indian classical music and hits from the United States.
Following this was a routine by Husky Bhangra, who used their traditional styles originating in Punjab, India to dance to several of Seta’s songs.
Conn-Men, a UConn all-male a capella group, finished the show with their rendition of “Prayer of the Children.”
Throughout the show, Empower played videos from their Cameroon trip that showed the orphans having fun with and learning from Empower members.
Seta himself made an appearance in one video, thanking UConn Empower for giving him “courage and strength to continue” his work in the orphanage.
“I fight to make sure that the children are healthy so their futures can be bright,” he said. “By helping them, we are investing in the future. By giving them a good education and teaching them good morals, we teach them that the world loves them.”
Many UConn students at the show were impressed with Seta’s story.
The group’s next trip, which they have been fundraising for throughout the year, will be to India next winter break.
Their next event is the Underwear Mile, where students strip down or don various costumes to run a mile.
Registration for the Underwear Mile, which takes place on April 27, is currently underway on the “2014 UConn UNDERWEAR MILE” Facebook page. It will continue next week at tables in McMahon Dining Hall and the Student Union as well.
The trip to India is currently accepting applications for trip leaders and members, the links to which can be found on the “UConn Empower” Facebook page.
Check out UConn Empower in Cameroon, and visit their YouTube Channel or Facebook page for more! Also check out Seta’s music on ReverbNation!
[images via UConn Empower’s Facebook Page]