Singer and humanitarian Angelique Kidjo joins lineup for 2012 RI Convention
By Arnold R. Grahl
Rotary International News -- 21 February 2012
Grammy award-winning singer Angelique Kidjo will be a speaker at the 2012 RI Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, 6-9 May.
Photo by Cheryl Richards
Grammy award-winning singer Angelique Kidjo will join an impressive lineup of speakers at the 2012 RI Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, 6-9 May.
Register by 1 March and you’ll pay US$195 to attend the convention. After that, the price for Rotarians, spouses, and guests older than 19 increases to US$245.
A UNICEF goodwill ambassador, Kidjo has used her musical talents to inspire and empower others around the world. Through her foundation, Batonga, she promotes the education of girls in Africa. And she has campaigned for fair trade and an end to small-arms sales, which fuel conflict and human rights abuses in Africa. Read more about Kidjo from The Rotarian's April 2011 issue .
Kidjo will speak during a convention plenary session on Monday, 7 May. Before that, she will address the Rotary World Peace Symposium on Friday, 4 May.
Other convention speakers include Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus, Global Poverty Project CEO Hugh Evans, and former Rotary Peace Fellow Amanda Martin.
Yunus
Yunus was an economics professor at the University of Chittagong in Bangladesh when he began transforming lives through microcredit. What began as personal microloans to poor women in nearby villages grew into Grameen Bank, which today has more than 2,500 branches throughout the country.
Evans
Evans is cofounder and CEO of the Global Poverty Project , which is dedicated to motivating people to take action to end extreme poverty. It recently added polio eradication to its list of campaigns.
Martin
Martin is working as a public health curriculum coordinator and teacher in a refugee camp on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. She completed a three-month fellowship last spring at the Rotary Peace Center at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
A boy and a Tiger
Local Rotarians have also arranged cultural excursions and events to help convention goers enjoy their stay in Bangkok. These Host Organization Committee ticketed events include “a boy and a TIGER,” a presentation celebrating the youth of Thailand with music, dance, gymnastics, and multimedia effects. The performers, who come from schools and charitable institutions throughout the country, include underprivileged and HIV-infected young people. The internationally acclaimed program was inspired by the novel “The Life of Pi.”
For more information: