Rezophonic Project

«Giving water to those who are truely thirsty»
by Denise Vanello
» Versione italiana

Chitarra

Music, water, and socialization. Here is something to talk about.

Rezophonic is much more than a normal recording project. Born in 2006 as an idea of Mario Riso; drummer, teacher, and TV personality; Rezophonic was created to celebrate the twenty years of his artistic career and life dedicated to music. Over the years, Mario Riso has worked with the best musicians on the Italian and international music scene by recording hundreds of albums and playing in a thousand live concerts.

With the support of a great friend and producer Marco Trentacoste, Riso wrote the first songs and decided to invite all friends, colleagues, and artists who accompanied him on his long and adventurous journey. Rezophonic Project participants were asked to donate a piece of art and to leave a proof of their friendship. The interest has been so big that he decided to make his project something more ambitious: all proceeds from the sale of the CD serve to support the water project AMREF, which aims to achieve clean water wells in Africa with the involvement of local populations.

Thanks to the National TV Artists, Mario Riso has been collaborating with the Association for a long time, and after his second trip to Kenya and a meeting with the heads of AMREF Italy he has decided to donate all proceeds from the sale fthe CD to this important project contributing actively to the construction of wells and pumps in one of the most arid regions of eastern Africa: the Kajiado, the border between Kenya and Tanzania.

The members of the project include Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil), Marco Cocci (Malfunk), Marco Trentacoste (Kenna), Marco Castellani (Octopus - Vibrations), Mario Riso (Movida), Jim Capaldi, Dj Ringo, L'Aura, Giuliano Sangiorgi (Negramaro), Andy (Bluvertigo), Pino Scotto, Eva Poles (Prozac +), Livio Magnini (Bluvertigo), Francesco Sarcina (Vibration), Olly (Fire), Max Zanotti (Kenna), Gielle (Extreme) and many others.

All of these artists are clear evidence that music can, if used well, have great power. They are the symbol of the Italian underground music scene, the example that rock and metal are not only facts of young stragglers, drugs and «beasts of Satan», but mainly students and artists with strong ideals, with a passion for art and with the great purpose to help the people by contributing with something of their own.

I was able to contact Mario Riso on the phone (I'd like to stress that he is a very nice person), and after a pleasant chat he decided to collaborate with this newspaper by giving an interview and by inviting me to Rock TV. We will discuss music, rock, Africa, water and charities. A nice opportunity and a great experience for everyone. More on this will appear in the next issue of Water (on) line.

Emergency drought in Kenya

In 2008 the government in Nairobi issued a warning to the world: 10 million people are at risk of starvation because drought has undermined the crops and grazing cattle. Main victims of the lack of clean water are the youngest: a child under 5 years has a 50% chance of contracting diseases from the use of contaminated water. These serious diseases can affect a child's growth and school performance.

Lack of access to clean water is also due to human factors: deforestation, lack of investment in water infrastructure and pollution of aquifers aggravate the effects of lost rainfall. Addressing these phenomena is a pressing need.

Coming into this scenario is the AMREF project for Kenya. Providing access to clean water for the poorest populations is a key challenge, which cannot be ignored. To cope with the lack of clean water, AMREF is developing its water project in 5 districts the African country (Kajiado, Makueni, Kitui, Kilifi and Malindi), with the goal of bringing clean water to 100 thousand families by the end of 2011.

It's an important goal, which will be achieved through wells and aqueducts built along with beneficiary communities, the true protagonists of the active work of AMREF. The project also plans to provide 15 thousand households to adequate sanitation in schools and to spread the knowledge of basic hygiene and health standards.

For further information:

» www.amref.it
» Il primo video dei Rezophonic

Plastic Man.

Each year, nearly 4% of fertile land disappears.
At each wash turn 50 gallons of wash water.
For a million people washing the dishes would be a luxury.
A human being needs at least 40 liters of water per day.
50 liters of water we consume on average for a shower.
In 2020 3 billion people around the world could not have more water.
The water covers the land surface for more than 2/3, 97% is salt water.
Each Italian consumes an average of 213 liters of water per day. An African 10.
Now you know.

(translated by Justine Levesque)

» Versione italiana