September 2008
From the Band
Dispatchers:
Summer is already coming to a close and fall ...
September 2008
From the Band
Dispatchers:
Summer is already coming to a close and fall is right around the corner - where has the time gone? Here's some updates for the month of September on what's going on in the worlds of Braddigan, Pete Francis, and State Radio...
Braddigan
Braddigan had a busy summer, including his first tour in the UK, sharing the stage with Donavon Frankenreiter and Ben Harper at the Optimus Festival in Portugal, as well as numerous trips to Nicaragua on behalf of Love Light & Melody. Brad and the organization were also featured in Daughtry's new music video (found here!) Braddigan and the band will spend the fall across the globe -- playing a festival in California, touring in Japan, playing colleges in the US, working in Laos and Vietnam, and finally doing some club touring in the US. Most importantly, the band has completed the rough cut of the new documentary, Dia De Luz (Day of Light)! Keep your eyes on www.braddigan.comfor screening info and the stories, photos and videos from around the world.
Pete Francis
Pete Francis and the Flyers have been traversing the country all summer long - and meeting lots of new friends along the way. The summer kicked off with some great festival gigs, including Wakarusa and Langerado, and went into full swing as Pete and the band hit the road for a tour with Rusted Root. The guys had some great gigs in LA, Las Vegas and Copper Mountain, and are excited to be returning to the west coast this fall. Check out a perfromance on Fearless TV on Fox, which will be aired nationally on a Friday in September. Keep checking the news on Pete's sites for the exact date! Be sure to check out the Pete Francis website for for some really cool postcards from our travels (with notes straight from Pete), as well as new tour dates - including a big New York City show at Bowery Balloom that is right around the corner. Can't wait to hit the road again! Check out tour dates here.
State Radio
"Take The Country Back" is the 24 date fall tour State Radio will be doing focusing on the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. The message of respect, fairness, justice, equality and recognizing the value and dignity of all people are the main points of why all human rights remain so important today. We will be setting up different actions in each market that the band and fans can all do together, and will have different organizations that represent different aspects of human rights along the tour. We are also really excited to have our friends Bongo Love from Zimbabwe as the support band for the entire tour. To learn more about the tour, go here. Check out these dates to find your local show here.
Merch
In prepartation for new t-shirts and other Dispatch paraphernalia to be unveiled in the upcoming months, The Dispatch Store will be having a Fall Cleaning Sale. Visit The Dispatch Store today to get some great deals on t-shirts, cds, and more!
Happy Fall,
**TEAM DISPATCH**
From the Foundation
The Latest News From Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwean government has lifted a ban on International Aid Agencies. The Red Cross estimates that there will be 5 million people requiring food aid by January 2009.
The medical system is in disarray. There are no protective gloves, X-Ray materials, antibiotics or plaster for casts. Here is a recent article detailing the crisis
Talks continue on power sharing between the opposition and ruling parties. The opposition has refused to sign a deal that would leave power with the ruling party. Most recent reports say that the talks are breaking down again and that there is a growing lack of cooperation between the two parties
Parliament has opened. The President was heckled during his speech and the opposition won both the Speaker and Deputy positions. The defeat was the first in 28 years; the ruling party has promised “vengeance”
And, from one of the many first hand accounts online: “Food supplies are lower than they've ever been. One morning this week in my hometown, four of the five main supermarkets were simply shut - doors closed, bars up, gates padlocked: no notice, no apology, nothing. One supermarket was open. A 250-gram bag of salt cost 150 dollars; a small tin of jam was priced at 250 dollars. A junior school teacher I met this week told me she currently earns 200 dollars a month“
Our Work
Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate, but there are many organizations that continue to effectively operate. We visited two this past March, both of which have received support from the Dispatch Foundation.
Forgotten Voices works with local churches and equips them to “meet the physical and spiritual needs of orphans in their communities.” UNICEF estimates Zimbabwe has over 1 million orphans. While in Zimbabwe, we met with a pastor who spoke movingly about “his children”, their success and strength, and how proud he was of the congregational support. With only $2,000, Forgotten Voices was able to send 739 orphans to school for a term.
Grassroot Soccer uses soccer to spread HIV awareness. 20% of Zimbabwe is estimated to have AIDS and nearly 400 Zimbabweans die each day from the disease. Current and past professional soccer players, (men and women) bring a curriculum into grade schools. We had a wonderful time in March, spending an entire afternoon with a few hundred students, and 20 soccer players – passing the ball, running around and feeling the excitement. Here in the States, Survivor winner Ethan Zohn is 10 days and 50 miles into his three-month soccer dribble from Boston to Washington, DC. He's dribbling to raise funds and awareness for Grassroot Soccer. Check out his blog here.
Social Vibe
The Dispatch Foundation has now partnered with Social Vibe. This means you, as a fan, can now personally raise money and awareness. Sign up here to get started and choose The Dispatch Foundation as your cause. You will get your own badge to download onto your social networking pages (myspace, facebook etc.) Every time someone clicks on your page, you are raising money for the Dispatch Foundation.
So, simply by driving traffic to your pages you are able to help contribute to the Foundation’s work!
For instance:
$2,000 will send 400 orphans to school for 1 year
$5,000 will educate a classroom for a year about HIV
$10,000 will send one container full of textbooks to rural villages in the south
The Dispatch Foundation is offering incentives to fans who raise the most money. The prizes include free VIP tickets, meet and greets with band members, and merchandise. Sign up today here, get your badge, and help create change in the world!
Finally, please make sure you are ready to Vote in November. Register here
