Non-Profit

BreadFruit Lane Charity: Serving as a Catalyst for Change for Communities in Need

In December 2006, Mike Slocombe and a collective of friends embarked on a cross-Atlantic voyage from Canada's largest metropolis, Toronto to the remote village of Baro in Guinea, a West African nation with a complex history and a rich culture. They embarked on their globetrotting adventure to learn and culture themselves to the traditional African rhythms and dances, indigenous to that region of the world. Slocombe, who has a deep rooted passion and admiration for the art of African drumming—so much so, he is a founding member of the Toronto-based percussion ensemble Baro Dununba, which is rooted in cultural music from West Africa and the Diaspora (individuals of African ancestry living outside of Africa )—was ecstatic at the opportunity to commune and apprentice under the masters of the art forms on African soil—a homecoming that would prove to be life changing. “I was so excited and nervous at the same time, as I had always felt that if I visited Africa I would not return,” recalls Slocombe. “I had mentioned this to a spiritual guide before I left and she said that it did not necessarily mean that I would be harmed or stay there but that I would most likely find a part of myself, or have an awakening, making me a different man. She was so right.” Upon their arrival in Baro, Slocombe’s and his friends’ excitement about their pilgrimage was eclipsed by the sight of human suffering through poverty, disease and sickness. “Tetanus, leprosy, and … [Read more...]

Helping Hands

In this issue, we meet an actor, singer and dancer from Toronto whose breadth of talent is matched by her desire to help others. She has been taking humanitarian trips to underdeveloped countries since she was a teenager with Third World Awareness, the not-for-profit organization that she helped to create. Looking at her background and education, it seems that she was meant to travel, to learn about different cultures, and to bring smiles to people’s faces.Bridget Olufunke Ogundipe was born to a Nigerian father and a Guyanese mother. The two met in Canada and made their home in Lagos, Nigeria, where Ogundipe was born, then moved back to Toronto when she was two years old. As a student at Brother Edmund Rice High School, Ogundipe joined her drama teacher and basketball coach, John Calaghan, on a humanitarian trip to Trenchtown, in Kingston, Jamaica. Calaghan organized these trips on a yearly basis, going to places like Jamaica and Nicaragua during March break and leading his students in helping others who were born into less-fortunate circumstances than themselves. Calaghan retired when Ogundipe was in the twelfth grade. None of the other teachers at Brother Edmund Rice were planning to continue the trips, but Ogundipe and a number of Calaghan’s other former students were reluctant to stop them – and so, as it turns out, was Calaghan himself. “So we found a way,” says Ogundipe. “We got support, we did it, and after we got to university there was still a small … [Read more...]