An 11-year-old girl will be pulling harp strings — and heart strings — during a fundraising concert to benefit the women and children of Africa’s Sierra Leone.
Emelia Sandau, a Grade 6 student from Cochrane, will be hosting Emelia’s Cause, a 20-song performance with her harp, all to collect $5,000 in donations to be put towards building a birthing hut through CAUSE Canada, an international charitable organization from Canmore.
The concert is slated for March 15 at Bearspaw Lions Hall from 7-8 p.m.
“I don’t want people to die because they don’t have a safe, clean place to give birth,” said Emelia, who has aspirations of being a midwife when she grows up.
Her concerns seem to be founded. According to a 2009 report from Amnesty International, one in eight Sierra Leone women risk dying during pregnancy or childbirth.
The well-spoken homeschool student said she was inspired to put on the concert after reading a newspaper article about a teenager who was travelling to Africa to build schools.
That was about two years ago, added her mother, Connie Sandau.
Thinking that she could do something similar, Emelia got to work planning a concert. Two years later, it’s a reality, and the young musician said she’s been practicing daily.
“It’s very inspirational what an 11-year-old can do when she has an idea,” said Connie. “I keep telling her about the ripple effect…. There will be lots of women and children whose lives will be saved because of this birth hut.”
According to the CAUSE Canada website, the birthing hut programs aim to “improve the health and well-being of mothers, children, families and communities” in the districts that have these birthing developments. These huts increase the survival of mothers, newborns and children, along with furthering the professional development of the Government of Sierra Leone Peripheral Health Unit.
“We went into the villages and spoke with the women and elders to find out what the community needed,” said Beverley Carrick, executive director of CAUSE Canada. “What they needed was a place for women to come who were at a high-risk level.”
The $5,000 Emelia plans to raise will go a long way, added Carrick. That total not only builds the hut, but also furnishes it and goes towards the cost of transporting the women and their families to the birthing hut.
While Emelia said she’s excited about the end result of her birthing hut, she said she’s most excited to see photos of the community celebration at the opening of her hut. She said CAUSE Canada has plans to name the birth house after her.
The birthing huts, although basic by Canadian standards, will provide mothers-to-be with a safe and healthy place to prepare for birth and receive care, medical monitoring and education.
“When I’m 16, I’m going to go visit my birthing hut,” Emelia said as her mother looked on. “I want to go before that, but my mom said no.”
Until then, Emelia said she’s content raising money to go towards CAUSE Canada’s initiatives. Last year around Christmastime, the entire Sandau clan made donations to the organization: Emelia and her older sister Brianna chose to put their donations towards baby health monitoring, while her younger brothers Tycen and Caleb bought a goat that people in Sierra Leone can use for milk and fertilizer.
“It’s rare, you know,” said Carrick about the 11-year-old humanitarian. “There are always good people, but someone who wants to do something concrete to help someone else, that’s uncommon.”
Not only do the Sandau’s donate as a family, they also play as a family. Connie is a harpist herself and started teaching Emelia to play four years ago. While she’s no stranger to playing in front of people, the young musician said she’s never played in front of a crowd as large as the 120 people the Bearspaw Lions Hall can hold.
Admission to the event is free, but donations for CAUSE Canada are welcomed. For more information about her initiative or to find out more about donating, visit Emelia’s Cause on Facebook.
To learn more about CAUSE Canada, check out cause.ca.
