SA: Yvonne Chaka Chaka to host World Kindness Day Africa event  

The event follows the launch of the ‘Kindness Contagion’ collaborative song in 2020, which was designed to encourage and inspire acts of goodwill during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will run under the banner #SpreadKindnessAfrica, and will celebrate people, organisations, networks and companies around the world that are kind to all creatures including themselves and the planet. The event is courtesy of Kindness Contagion and aims to promote and amplify kindness as the world’s most important natural resource and valuable human capital.

“Kindness is so important, so often overlooked and so truly African,” Yvonne Chaka Chaka said. “I hope literally millions of people will take the Kindness Contagion pledge and join this initiative as we nurture it to grow.”

The commemoration will be broadcast on various digital platforms from 4pm CAT. The first hour of the event, titled Power Hour of Celebration, will see organisers playing the ‘Kindness Contagion’ song and invite some of the artists who are featured on the track to share messages of kindness and these include South Africans Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse, Pops Mohamed, Vicky Sampson, Tu Nokwe, Tau Lion and Bikos Manna as well as Xixel (Mozambique) and Didier Awadi (Senegal). They will be joined by representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other various organisations.

UNDP deputy resident representative Gabriel Dava, who will deliver remarks at the event, said: “We are thrilled to witness this initiative scaling up and promoting more kindness, especially now that we all need it as we recover from the COVID-19 devastation. Transformative acts of kindness can ensure that No One Is Left Behind, an ethos that characterises our work as a development agency.”

Other musicians who are featured on the ‘Kindness Contagion’ song are Seun Kuti (Nigeria), Orezi (Nigeria), Elida Almeida (Cape Verde), Christine Salem (Reunion), Suzziah (Kenya), Gasmilla (Ghana), Gyedu Blay Amoblley (Ghana), Jah Baba (Benin), Maurice Kirya (Uganda) and Xixel (Mozambique) as well as South African artists Marcus Wyatt, Madosini, Buhlebendalo, Alvin Hendricks, Randall Skippers, Allou April, Justin Arendse, Vicky Sampson and Biko’s Manna.

The first event will be followed by a unique three-hour open space session where attendees will be invited to answer the question: What can we do to spread a contagion of kindness from Africa to itself and around the world?

The Kindness Contagion project was conceptualised and launched in April 2020 as a pan-African response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Profiled across online and broadcast platforms, the song was composed by South African artist RJ Benjamin with original lyrics by HIP’s Michael Lee. The track was arranged and produced by Gabi le Roux. Artist procurement was supported by MusicDay2.org and Sheer Music Publishing Africa.

The public can register here to attend the World Kindness Day Africa commemoration event.

For more information and regular updates regarding this project, visit the Kindness Contagion official website.