Angelique Kidjo Sings For Education in Benin

TITAS is presenting Benin-based vocalist and four-time Grammy nominee Angelique Kidjo on Thursday, February 28, 2008 for the first time on our season. She recently opened for Josh Groban at the American Airlines Center in Dallas and released her new album "Djin Djin" that features contributions from Groban, Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Joss Stone, Carlos Santana, and more.

She recently performed a concert in Benin to help support education:

Benin diva Kidjo lulls girls into school with song

By Samuel Elijah 2 hours, 17 minutes ago

SO-AVA, Benin (Reuters) - Belting out her "Lost Children" anthem against child exploitation, Benin pop diva Angelique Kidjo launched a campaign this week to get thousands of African girls into school.

Her native country has acquired a name as a hub for trafficking children into domestic servitude and many children attend "voodoo convents," meaning large numbers, especially girls, miss out on a school education.

The singer, whose two-decade career spans a range of musical styles and high-profile collaborations, has launched the U.S.-registered Batonga Foundation to get girls across Africa out of domestic work or prostitution and into classrooms.

"I am proud to be from Benin, but my pride will not be complete until all our girls go to school. We are poor because we don't send our children to school," she told crowds of young people on Tuesday at the lagoon-side town of So-Ava, 20 km (13 miles) from the West African country's main city Cotonou.

"Girls who go to school know how to protect themselves against disease. They have more chance of having healthy babies and they are better able to manage the household accounts to break out of poverty," said Kidjo, who is a goodwill ambassador for U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF.

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