Courtesy photo
Peace Corps volunteer Sarah Brown joins women making soap in Niono, Mali.

In 2005 my older sister Sarah volunteered with the Peace Corps and was sent to Northwestern Africa. Holding much admiration for the Peace Corps and its many devoted members, I decided to incorporate that organization into my Culminating Project at Woodinville High School.

I immediately thought of doing a project within our community that would also stretch across the Atlantic to my sister in Niono, Mali.

Inspired by my mother, who is a local musician and has been teaching piano in Woodinville for 28 years, and my courageous sister, I finally decided to put together a musical performance benefit to raise money and awareness for the Peace Corps.

I have teamed up with my sister and hope to specifically raise money for a project she has recently started which includes 37 local women, who with the help of the Peace Corps, is working to purchase land for these women to begin a rice cultivation project.

The women of the association are working to raise 25% of the funding necessary to fulfill their goals.

This is quite an opportunity for the women of Niono, since, like the majority of rural Mali, women are placed in roles of domestic servitude and retain very little power financially. Utilizing the efforts of both genders will double productivity for the nation, potentially speeding up the development of the country.On a more personal level for the women of the Association de Benkady, this project will allow for increased prosperity for individual families, but more importantly empower the women and allow them to gain an important role outside the home and with the community.

Realizing the need to raise almost $1,000 dollars for the project to get off the ground in Niono, I decided to focus my fundraiser directly on my sister’s project. This Father’s Day, June 17, my fundraising concert will take place at the Northshore United Church of Christ and will feature an eclectic mix of piano stylings, brass instrumental, and a full force klezmer band.

The Cascade Brass Quintet, which features my mother on the tuba, plays a lively mix of music from the renaissance to Dixieland jazz and the Beatles. The 188th Street Klezmer Band, with which my mother also plays tuba and guitar, performs the vibrant music of the Jewish people as well as some original arrangements. Have an early dinner and bring dad out for a fun evening of music while supporting a great cause. The concert will be held from 6:30 to 8:30, with donations at the door. Come for all or part of it, and if you cannot make it, donations made payable to Philby Brown - Peace Corps Fund can be mailed to me at:

Philby Brown
20118 192nd AVE NE
Woodinville, WA 98077

Let’s make a positive difference in the world together!