UNITED Kingdom-based Zimbabwe-born Belinda Magejo has replaced chair of the New Zealand chapter of the Zimbabwe Rural Schools Library Trust’s (ZRSLT) musical album project manager, Driden Kunaka, NewsDay has established.
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
The project is meant to produce music which encourages the use of libraries and fundraise to build model libraries in selected parts of rural Zimbabwe.
Magejo, whose official appointment begins on August 1, said she was already involved in the running of the operations and has managed to negotiate a deal with Vic Taks Recording Studio for the recording of songs by Harare-based musicians.
“It is an exciting challenge that I am looking forward to. I have never done anything like this before, but I am confident that my vast experience in the music industry will help me achieve a perfect result and hopefully have a hit album which in turn will raise a lot of money for the trust,” Magejo said.
She said apart from creating awareness on the need for libraries, the album was also meant to raise money to build model libraries and her wish was for artistes to take the initiative seriously.
“Artistes are the best vessels to convey a message as they have a lot of following. Most of them are role models hence school children are more likely to listen to a message being passed on by a musician encouraging them to read and use libraries,” she said.
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The outgoing project manager Driden Kunaka said she was confident that Magejo would deliver.
“Belinda has the determination, the passion and the experience that is needed to make the project succeed,” she said.
It is understood that the first musical album under the project featuring Musicians Sandra Ndebele, Jeys Marabini, first timer Denzel Mombeyarara, mbira maestro Lloyd Mukumba and Charles Charamba who have completed recording their songs should have been released by now, but financial challenges had contributed to its delay which the trust was trying to address.
Some of the artistes expected to add their voices on the album were Leonard Zhakata, Windy Tapiwa Goho, Canada-based Mbira Renaissance, Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana and New Zealand’s Hamilton School Room 20 Band.
