Working in conjunction with City of Lights International, Taps is hosting a benefit concert at the world famous Whisky A Go Go on September 4th. ALL proceeds will go towards building schools and housing and will also be used to provide food, water, medical care and a local school bus for impoverished children and young adults in Africa.
About Taps:
Tapiwa Kudakwashe Mugadza (aka “Taps”) is estimated to have
been born on April 1, 1988 but will never know his exact birthday or who his
parents are. When he was approximately two days old, he was left at the
doorstep of an orphanage in Harare, Zimbabwe. Thirty babies and six ‘Aunties’
inhabited one small dilapidated home. It was a lonely and difficult way to grow
up. Frightened of people, Taps did not find the courage to speak until he was
fifteen years old. At the age of fifteen, Taps finally mustered his courage to
speak and asked a local boy from church if he could play his guitar. Shocked
that Taps could even talk, he was speechless by Tap’s proficiency one week
later. The following year the church donated an old organ to the orphanage and
once again Taps’ musical gift allowed him to teach himself how to play
beautifully within a week. Music was what grounded him and what gave him a
feeling of joy. Like all boys who reach the age of eighteen, Taps was
eventually forced to leave the orphanage. Homeless, with nowhere to go and no
one to turn to, he volunteered to dig wells in impoverished areas of Zimbabwe.
By 2007, Zimbabwe was facing 90% unemployment, along with rampant HIV
epidemics, Malaria, starvation and deaths totaling in the tens of thousands
annually. Yet in the midst of all this tragedy, maybe because of it, Taps felt
he could make a difference. After two years of volunteer work, the head of the
organization asked Taps what he wanted to do with his life. Taps’ answer was,
"I would love to study music.” With that, they contacted a volunteer who
had visited Zimbabwe and asked if Taps could stay with him and his wife in
California if he was accepted into the Musician’s Institute. The volunteer
agreed and following his acceptance, Taps’ seemingly impossible dream, to
someday visit the bountiful United States, was coming true! He graduated with
the school’s highest honor, ‘Outstanding Artist’ and both the head of his program and the president of the school said they had never had anyone as talented at Taps. Taps’ motivating goal is to rehabilitate the orphanage he grew up in and build schools across Africa to help children in need. Please join Taps on September 4th 2014 for his Voices of Hope benefit concert so that together, we can all make a
difference.
About City of Lights International:
City of Lights International is a vocal advocate for the abused and abandoned baby. We travel to every corner of the globe to help give babies a second a chance at life. Every baby deserves a home, and with your help, that can be made possible. We can change the world...one baby at a time.
"It seems like just yesterday I was playing with the children in that bright red
dirt. It was so difficult for me to leave all those children behind, MY children. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about them and miss them so much. Before I left Uganda I made a promise, a promise to myself and all of the babies. I promised I would build them a home, a home that would keep them safe, that would take care of them, a home that would love them. I came back to Los Angeles with a mission and I am keeping my promise. - Paris Noelle Wagner, Founder and CEO, City of Lights International
http://www.cityoflightsinternational.org/home.html
How you can help:
Please join us on September 4th 2014 at the Whisky a Go Go. In addition to wonderful music, we will also be having a silent auction and you will even have the opportunity to sponsor a child.
