We are your music distribution team.
Forward is a distribution platform and charity project owned by Lost on You Music, the first electronic record label and benefit program to donate all money raised from the album sales to help with the fight against malnutrition, health and sanitary problems in the poorest parts of Africa.
As Lost on You the purpose behind forward is to use the musical talents of the associated artists to reach its audience, achieve something beyond the music by helping others.
Causes
we support
Street’s Child’s vision is to close the inequality gap that exists and we believe the key to this is education. 121 million school-aged children are currently out of education worldwide. Millions of more children are in school but failing to learn. Street Child believes that achieving universal basic education is the single greatest step that can be taken towards the elimination of global poverty. Street Child prides itself on being willing to to to the world’s toughest places where others won’t, including remote, hard-to-reach areas and fragile, disaster-affected states. they recognize that the barriers to education are complex and interlinked, and their projects focus on a combination of education, child protection, and livelihood support to address the social, economic, and structural issues that underpin today’s learning crisis. Wherever they work Street Child partner with local organizations and communities and take an outcome-led approach. Using evidence to drive learning and the constant refinement and scale-up of programs that create maximum impact for most children at the lowest donation cost.
Utopia 56 is an association created in January 2016 in Brittany (France) for volunteers helping in the Calais jungle. With missions on the field, 24/7, more than 150 volunteers are mobilized daily on different tasks in Calais, Grande-Synthe, Lille, Paris, Rennes, Toulouse, and Tours providing access to medical care, distribution of food, clothing, hygiene products, tents, sleeping bags, accommodation for citizens and legal and social aid.
Founded in 1937, Plan International is a development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. They strive for a just world, working together with children, young people, and their supporters and partners. Plan International strives for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. Plan International engages people and partners to Empower children, young people, and communities to make vital changes that tackle the root causes of discrimination against girls, exclusion, and vulnerability. Drive change in practice and policy at local, national, and global levels through their reach, experience, and knowledge of the realities children face. Plan International works with children and communities to prepare for and respond to crises and to overcome adversity. Support the safe and successful progression of children from birth to adulthood.
Malaria kills about 400,000 people every year and more than 200 million fall ill. Before bed nets were made available, it was three or more times that. Nets are a proven intervention - a more effective way of saving lives than any other. There is still a long way to go and every death from this disease is preventable.
CONTEXT
Schools for Tomorrow
Schools for Tomorrow is a project to build, renovate and re-energize 1,000 schools across Sierra Leone by 2023, giving over 100,000 children education to start them on paths to change their world.
This is our most ambitious and far-reaching project yet, and we are excited to be taking such a significant step towards providing universal basic education in Sierra Leone. We will be working alongside Street Child of Sierra Leone: who have been delivering education and protection for vulnerable children in their country for over 10 years.
At the very minimum, education gives children a better chance of sustaining themselves and ensuring they lead a more prosperous life. At its best, education gives children the tools to become architects for changing the future of their community and their country.
Children living in rural Sierra Leone are missing out on their right to basic education. There is evidence that a shocking 88% of primary age out of school child in Sierra Leone, are living in rural areas. Parents’ own education is one of the strongest influences over a child’s enrolment and progression in school, yet 70% of rural Sierra Leoneans are illiterate - and the majority have never been to school themselves. This is a cycle of illiteracy that must be broken.
Children who do attend school will still face major challenges in learning how to read and write. The quality of teaching is generally very poor because teachers in rural primary schools are often unqualified, untrained, and poorly paid. School costs are often passed on to parents who cannot afford it, dramatically hindering full enrolment and regular attendance. Nearly half of the rural primary schools are not able to offer the full range of classes, leaving children unable to complete primary education without the travel costs associated with traveling to another school.
Generations of rural children are at risk of being left behind if they are unable to complete basic education and will become further entrenched in the cycle of rural inequality and exclusion.
Street Child has been able to significantly improve the life opportunities of 100,000 children in Sierra Leone through education. Evaluations of their work have concluded that its approach addresses both the social and economic barriers to education that the most marginalized households face (Bulanda, 2014, 2016). We know that there is more to do and building upon our extensive experience, Street Child now looks to mobilize local communities in order to have a greater and more significant impact with minimum resources.
Project
Approach
Through this project, we will target communities most in need - where over 70% of children do not complete primary education and, most importantly, where communities have shown a collective commitment to education. The goal is to empower communities where there is little, or zero, effective education provision to take a leading role in the education of their child.
Together with the Street Child’s rural schools’ officers, we will work with communities to develop a plan for education based on their needs. Project activities will vary depending on the needs of each community but investments will focus on 4 key areas:
School construction
Many rural communities either lack a school structure entirely or the structure that is available is unsuitable and unsafe. We will work with each community to either build from scratch or extend and repair existing school structures. This will be based upon our low-cost approach that leverages local labor and materials. Depending on needs this will also include the provision of classroom furniture.
Education quality
Rural classrooms are often under-resourced and teachers are untrained. We will provide teaching and learning materials and work to improve the quality of teaching. Untrained teachers will be enrolled in distance-learning Government-approved teaching certificate and we will invest in the on-going professional development of inexperienced teachers through in-classroom coaching by our teaching specialists.
Advocacy
Communities will be supported to advocate with parents on the importance of education, particularly for girls at the upper primary level where drop-out rates spike.
Many rural schools receive no government support and are forced to pass costs onto parents who cannot afford it. We will support schools to establish an Income.
Sustainability
Generating Initiative (IGI), such as a school-owned rice farm or seed bank to cover the costs of teachers. We will also work to establish strong School Management Committees and support them to lobby the local government for school approval and integration into the national budget.
This approach will be low-cost, sustainable, and locally-rooted and will make a real difference by helping to ensure children living in hard to reach rural communities can access and progress through quality basic education.
