Juno-nominated singer-songwriter Craig Cardiff will play two shows at Phog Lounge as a fundraiser for MedOutreach, Thursday, March 22.
The group will send four medical students, two dental students and two nursing students this summer to Tanzania, where they will work to improve primary health care and promote disease prevention projects. The students must raise $60,000 to cover the cost of their travel as well as medical and school supplies they will donate to clinics and schools there.
“Each year, we travel to Tanzania and work in collaboration with a number of clinics, hospitals and organizations in that country to deliver health and dental care to under-serviced individuals,” says Alina Sobiesiak, one of two students in the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Program making the trip. “We also work with schools to teach basics of health and hygiene, donate school supplies and will provide some student scholarships.”
She calls the trip a “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn in a challenging setting.”
MedOutreach was founded by Western med students in 1986, and while students from the Windsor program have participated in each of the last four years, this will mark the first time that Windsor will send more than one representative to Africa. Sobesiak says she and the other Windsor program student, Dilan Fernando, have set a fundraising target of $6,000. Thursday’s concerts should bring them $500 closer.
Cardiff will play an early show at 7 p.m. and a late one at 10 p.m. His 16th recording, Floods & Fires, is nominated for a Juno as solo album of the year in the roots and traditional music category. The 2012 Juno Awards ceremony is set for April 1.
Tickets are $15 and are available at Phog Lounge, located at 157 University Avenue West. Admittance is restricted to those 19 years old and over.