Chris Harris from City of Sydney Council opened the evening soon followed by Solidarity Choir. Their stirring songs of freedom from all over the globe rang through the hall.
Pakistan Associations's Umar Ghan and Malhar, the unplugged version, then gave the audience a generous taste of Pakistani pop to savour.
During the break they could continue the flavour by indulging in samosas, gulab jamon (kindly donated by Maya Indian Sweets) and other tasty treats cooked up by the choirs.
Lisa Upton was next on the program. She has been working for several years with NGOs in Pakistan in media development. More recently she was delivering radios to remote areas to keep them in touch relief efforts. Her talk and accompanying slides gave a first person account of the extent of damage and what is desperately needed there.
PEACC representative and Marrickville Councillor Saeed Khan, then explained about PEACC and the earthquake appeal.
To finish the evening Voices from the Vacant Lot performed some of their diverse and moving repertoire. Taking the audience to many places in the world with song and percussion. Both choirs then took the stage and sang together leaving many with a tear in their eye.
A very successful evening that reflected how well the community can work together both to inform and entertain while raising money for Pakistan. The City of Sydney donated the use of Glebe Town Hall for the evening, all the performers, speakers and fantastic MC Daniel Cordeaux gave their time (and cakes) free of charge, PAA donated urns and a lot of time and energy, Maya Indian Sweets donated food to sell, Glebe Books, Randwick Ritz , Kate Raffin's Handbound Books and the Choirs donated raffle prizes, and lastly the sound system was provided free of charge by Hurstville Council. Truly a great way to contribute to relief efforts.
Jessica Douglas
Voices from the Vacant Lot
