Paul Banda, Alleluya Band excites La Caverna
Balaka based group Alleluya Band led by Paul Subiri, legendary Paul Banda and Reggae Ambassador Charles Sinetre on Friday, united and came together to entertain a sizeable audience at La Caverna in Blantyre.
The artists, who put up spirited performances, came together with one cause, to raise funds to Comfort Clinics in Balaka which opened its doors on May 21, 1997.
Clinician at the hospital, Gray Chikomola, hailed the artists for taking their time to perform for free to raise funds for the hospital whose mission is to improve the health of the people in Balaka by providing affordable and free health care as well as delivering exceptional services.
Paul Banda, who performed over 15 songs, said he was happy to be part of this important cause.
“It is true that I heard that there was this fundraising show to help children receive free medical care and so I decided to take my part. This is very important and I just want to thank you for coming. We have so many children who need help and so wherever we can we need to assist,” said the musician before his performance.
He went on to offer several renditions from his different albums including ‘Malilime,’ ‘Zonse Nzabwino,’ ‘Mwanayo,’ and ‘Ndakhala Naye.’
Subiri, who performed earlier opening the floor on the day with Alleluya Band, said they have been assisting the hospital through the performances they hold in Italy every year but they decided to start this cause at home.
“We just wanted to show that as Alleluya Band we can also raise funds here and not only in Italy. This is just the beginning and we hope to do more,” said the band leader as the group looks ahead to concerts in Italy later this month.
Sinetre closed the chapter on the day and he kicked off his performance by performing Bob Marley’s hit ‘One Love,’ and this to him was calling upon Malawians to come together and assist those in need.
Sinetre also took time out to speak about the xenophobic attacks in South Africa which has seen several Malawians being repatriated.
The artist said many people go to South Africa in search of jobs to receive money and he took advantage of the day being Labour Day when he dished out ‘Chimangafisi Dollar.’
In the song, Sinetre looks at the challenges that people are facing working day in and day out to generate income which is never enough.
He then takes a closer look at the US dollar which he says is stronger than the Malawi Kwacha hence there was a need for the country to create its own dollar so that people should not be running around to search for money.
The other songs he performed on the day include ‘Chidiso Mtolo.’
Before Sinetre took to the stage, Jacaranda School students backed by Alleluya Band also performed the song ‘Malaika.’ This is a Swahili song which means ‘Angel.’ The song has been done in different versions but it was South Africa’s singer Miriam Makeba’s version which made it famous to the world.
After a performance by Jacaranda students then came Alleluya Band’s former band leader Coss Chiwalo, who performed three songs in Italian as part of reaching out to Italians who were in the building but also were part of the fundraising.
This was a free show but people were parting with money through buying Alleluya Band’s T-shirts and CDs and other items. There was also a box which was placed inside the La Caverna gardens where people dropped money.
Food was also being sold inside which was also part of generating funds.
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