Help Us Support The Education of Young People

Please note: With your donation, you will be gifted the first chapter of the digital copy of the ILẸ WA book. Read our story below...

Hi! We are 'WE ARE SOUL', an alternative music and art community-based platform. One of our key goals is to support creatives and to connect with music and art lovers. By designing, curating and executing unique visual projects and experiences, we offer audiences the opportunity to share their creativity with our community and ultimately, become part of it.

In 2017, we wanted to take things a step further. We launched 'Soul Purpose,' a campaign in partnership with CWEENS, an NGO based in Nigeria that provides financial, psychological and legal support to young women and children who are victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. These beneficiaries tend to come from low socio-economic backgrounds. Our partnership with CWEENS has allowed us to sponsor three young girls (Queen [20], Abigail [10] and Joy [16]) through education by funding their school fees, uniforms, and materials. Our goal isn't just to send them to school for a term or a year. We want to create a lasting change for a better quality of life by ensuring they can complete primary and secondary school.

After covid, we stopped hosting events which also affected our ability to make an income. Our founder has since been self-funding the campaign. However, Soul Purpose needs sustainability and longevity. We wanted to create something that would resonate with and inspire the creatives in our community while simultaneously fundraising for the campaign. This is when theILẸ WA project was created.

“ILẸ WA” is a Yoruba phrase directly translating to "Our Land". This project aims to help us remember our roots and where we come from and honour our heritage. We have created a short film in honour of the project and are currently producing a digital art book and a physical coffee table book to be released in Q1 of 2023. This book features 41 handpicked diasporic and indigenous artists, photographers and poets from Africa and the Caribbean.

The ILẸ WA project aims to inspire us to continue uplifting our community and culture and evoke joy, creativity and free expression. At the same time, we wish to give back to our community in the motherland via Soul Purpose. Upon its launch, 100% of all book sales profits will go entirely towards the Soul Purpose Campaign.

In the meantime, our aim for this fundraiser seeks to begin the process of ensuring the education of all three girls for the next few years. To put your impact into perspective, if 300 people donated £2, we would be able to pay for Queen, Abigail and Joy's educational needs for the rest of this school year. If 300 people donated £3, that would cover an entire school year. And if 300 people donated £6, that would cover all three of their educational needs for two years. A little really goes a long way!

If you want to learn more about Soul Purpose and the three girls' stories, check out our documentary below. Head to our philanthropy webpage and watch our short documentary (2017).

Please help us continue to support Queen, Abigail and Joy. With your donation, you will be gifted the first chapter of the digital copy of the ILẸ WA book. Big or small, the WE ARE SOUL team appreciates any contributions that are made. Thank you!