Uplifting our Elders; Supporting Abdoul Doumbia

Imagine your life without music. It’s a pretty bleak picture, but thankfully we live in a world of amazing musicians willing to work hard and sacrifice so that we don’t inhabit a musical void. Abdoul Doumbia has been sharing his music and ancestral knowledge around the world for 30 years, bringing joy and inspiration to so many, but now he needs our support.  Recently, his last living uncle passed away, transferring a world of family responsibilities to Abdoul’s shoulders.  Abdoul’s family needs him to immediately return to Mali, West Africa to stand for them, but because of losing his job due to Covid19 pandemic restrictions and his many years of generosity and sacrifice, he is financially struggling to make the trip home to support his people. 

Here is an urgent opportunity to support a deeply knowledgeable elder of West African music. 

Here is an urgent opportunity to acknowledge and thank him and his family, who have given the world a vibrant and powerful music, rich with history and meaning.

Here is an urgent opportunity to recognize, thank and uplift a family that holds vast and irreplaceable orally transmitted ancestral knowledge for their generosity in sharing this with all of us. 

Who among us will show up to uplift a man who has uplifted countless people, and now asks for our help so he can be there when his family in Mali needs him desperately?  Would you be willing to give a dollar? Five dollars? Twenty dollars?  Musicians of Mali have been influencing and inspiring the world for centuries, and we can do a little to thank them today. 


To learn more about Abdoul and his music:

http://abdouldoumbia.com/ 
https://doumbiadrums.bandcamp.com/album/madu-faraba-sylla-abdoul-doumbia 
https://doumbiadrums.bandcamp.com/album/sabu-nyuma 

My name is Gordon Hellegers, aka Salif Bamakora, and I am organizing this fundraiser on Abdoul’s behalf because he has been a dear friend and mentor to me for 20 years.  I have lived with his family in Mali, and he has lived with my family here in the States.  


I will be collecting your generosity on his behalf and assuring that 100% of the proceeds are transferred to Abdoul Doumbia whether he be in the US or Mali, so that he may travel as immediately as possible.  

This man is a living treasure, please help to uplift him and his family.