"Tushinde Pamoja" — now with English subtitles! Send it viral.

I first posted this video back at the beginning of the month, the fruit of a collaboration between Congo's "girl mothers," Congolese pop stars Innoss'B and Maisha Soul, a group of dedicated activists (including a friend of mine), and a group of donors from all over the world who brought the Kickstarter project into being.

The video, of course, is in Congolese. Honestly, you don't really need to understand the literal meaning of the words to grasp the larger meaning; the song is one of those that doesn't beat you over the head with its message, but it worms its way into your heart and soul, and later you'll find yourself humming "Tushiiiiiiiinde pamoooooooooja," whether you know what it means or not. 

But now, you can sing along in English if you like, because we have subtitles!

In case you missed the backstory, here it is, from one of my earlier posts:

One of her former students launched the project, and is collaborating with musicians in Congo to help what are known there as "girl mothers": very young unwed mothers who have been abandoned by their families and society. These young women have decided that they will not be tossed aside, and instead have banded together to mount a fierce fight for their own futures, the futures of their children, and the futures of all of Congo's other girl mothers and their families.
This is leadership. Leadership, in fact, at a level that most of us can't even begin to imagine. It's difficult, it's frightening, it's dangerous. All the more so in a place like Congo right now, where bloody internal strife is being leveraged and exploited by outside colonizing forces that want to steal the region's wealth of valuable natural resources.
Now, this Kickstarter project is trying to help amplify these young women's voices. Two popular Congolese musicians, Innoss'B and Maisha Soul, have committed to working with them to create a powerful music video and help send it viral throughout Congo (and, everyone hopes, the world beyond). It's a message of hope, expressed through the cultural commonality of music.
It's a message that these young women and their children matter.

Today, you don't need to do anything that will cost anything more than a few seconds of your time. Nope; no request for donations. Just a request to send this viral.

The many people who worked so hard to produce this video wanted to send it viral across Congo to reach as many young women (and their families) as possible with this message of hope. But it's a message that needs to be heard worldwide. And now that people are able to follow along with the subtitles, that message can be brought directly to the entire English-speaking world (and from there no doubt translated into other languages, as well).

So please: Click the links and send it viral. No, not this post; the YouTube video itself. There's a function called "Share" beneath the video on the YouTube site, and it'll let you disseminate it via every major form of social media. You can also cross-post it wherever you hang out on the Internet.

And special thanks to rb137, who brought this great project to my attention and who plays her own role in its creation (and in so many other hugely important projects).