Former ab-fab community outreach intern, Katie Bliss, is back in the UK (sniff!), but she wrote me about Massukos, a popular band from Mozambique who have a strong commitment to humanitarian work in their country and abroad. She met one of the band members, Feliciano dos Santos, while she was in Cuba last month.

Dos Santos was one of 2008’s Goldman Environmental Prize winners [visit the site to see a short video profile]:

Using music to spread the message of ecological sanitation to the most remote corners of Mozambique, Feliciano dos Santos is empowering villagers to participate in sustainable development and rise up from poverty. In Niassa province, many villages lack even basic sanitation infrastructure. Without reliable access to clean water and waste management systems, the population is highly susceptible to disease. Santos, who grew up in the region, today heads an innovative program that is bringing new hope to Niassa. With his internationally-recognized band, Massukos, Santos uses music to promote the importance of water and sanitation in Mozambique. His program is now serving as a model for other sustainable development programs around the world.

Feliciano dos Santos Goldman Acceptance Speech and Song

Dos Santos along with the rest of Massukos and several other international artists have banded together for an Poo tour “to promote, educate and facilitate a wider understanding of life’s basic necessities – principally sanitation and clean water – in Africa”.

If you are in the UK and going to the Glastonbury festival (lucky devil), check Massukos out at the Jazz World Stage on Saturday, June 28th.

Some of their music:

Their non-profit: Estamos

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