By Katarina Hybenova
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfbEx1TfSDE&feature=player_embedded
Maggie and Brian Muldoons are cousins from Bushwick who have slightly different plans for the summer than the rest of us… While we will most likely be eating tacos at Rockaway Beach or playing frisbee on Coney Island, these two will be teaching art and tutoring girls in the poorest part of Africa.
West Point in Liberia is a place with a sad recent history. The country was stuck in a brutal civil war conflict for 14 years. As it usually happens, the ones who suffer the most are usually the most innocent – the children. Many of these local girls orphaned at early age and have fallen victim to child prostitution.
According to the Muldoons current UNESCO statistics report that an estimated 73%, of primary-aged children are out of school in post-conflict Liberia. Getting these girls the education they need will make a major difference in their lives. It is reported that girls in the developing world who receive seven or more years of education, marry four years later and have 2.2 fewer children.
Muldoons want to work as volunteer artists with a non-profit organization More Than Me, and want to help supplement the girls’ education with activities the school doesn’t offer. They want to teach art and undertake other artistic endeavors, which will strengthen problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, and will add to overall academic achievement and school success.
Muldoons have started a campaign to raise $7,000 for the trip. Opting for a flexible funding campaign at Indiegogo, they have nearly reached their goal.
To help Muldoons realize their dream to help Liberian girls, Bushwick cafe Little Skips is throwing them a benefit this Saturday at 9pm. Five Bushwick bands (Deathrow Tull, Brian and Mick of The Nuclears, Photon Dynamo and the Shiny Pieces, Cave Days, ADVAITA) have volunteered to play, and there will be free chips and salsa from the Brooklyn Salsa Co, sweets and hand made t-shirts for sale; a raffle and auction for great Bushwick stuff such as a $65 dollar bar tab at The Pine Box Rock Shop, Little Skips gift cards, custom paintings from Bushwick artists, a free haircut from Bushwick Salon owner Chelsey Pickthorn, headshots/photoshoots from Bushwick photographers Sarah Tamar and Ky Digregorio, and a whole bunch more!
100% of the proceeds will go to help the Muldoons to build a safe house for young girls in Liberia who are at risk for violence and sexual exploitation.
Guys, this is definitely a cause worth supporting not to mention all the goodies that the Muldoons have prepared in collaboration with all the Bushwick businesses. Stop by on Saturday at Little Skips and help these wonderful folks to improve life to a couple of children who were not as lucky as us…
