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Multi-instrumentalist Kurai Mubaiwa, one of Vancouver’s leading African musicians, received some bad news last month. His former partner had died of malaria in Zimbabwe, leaving their eight-year-old daughter, Nyasha, in danger. “I’m so very afraid for her,” Mubaiwa—who came to Canada from Zimbabwe as a refugee in 2002—told the Straight. “There’s a strain of malaria around that’s resistant to the only medications they have in the country, where the health and sanitary system has broken down. Right now, Nyasha is living with her grandmother and going to a rural school, but I want her here with me. It will be quite a long and costly process for her to immigrate, and I’m organizing a benefit concert to raise funds for her passport, lawyer’s fees, doctor’s fees for the medical examination, and the flight.”

Bringing Nyasha to Canada—a family event that features African music and dance from Tambai Marimba, Miyanda, Masabo, Kunaka, Kutapira, and Mubaiwa’s own band Chanazukuru—will be at Grandview Calvary Baptist Church (1803 East 1st Avenue) on March 22 at 2 p.m. Admission is by donation. For more info, e-mail chanazukuru@gmail.com.