Recently Kris Haamer started a Bitcoin crowdfunding campaign to fight domestic violence in Sao Tomé. He partnered with a Sao-Toméan rapper Pekagboom to raise people’s awareness about the problem of domestic violence which stands sharply in many countries of the world. Kris told Cointelegraph that he and his team plan to start a far-reaching transmedia project that will help fight domestic violence not only in Sao Tomé, but also in other Portuguese speaking countries, as well as in other countries all over the world.
The idea of the project appeared two years ago when Kris Haamer met Pekagboom at the Sao Tome e Principe art biennale. After that they started gathering other people around the idea to create a strong team, “with members in Sao Tomé, Estonia, Portugal, Brazil and Taiwan”. This shows the problem they are to deal with is global indeed.
The team has created a musical video featuring a fictional character named Elsa Figueira and her tough story of overcoming domestic violence. This video is to demonstrate to all the abused women that there is actually a way out and that they shouldn’t suffer the violence silently.
Now the project is finished and the team is raising funds for its launch. Kris has chosen Bitcoin for the campaign as he thinks it “is a perfect fit for that”. He told Cointelegraph:
“Bitcoin might not be really mainstream yet but I think it has the potential to make global collaboration possible. You can participate with your mobile device. No laptop is necessary. If you have Twitter and a Bitcoin wallet on your phone, you are in. So that’s kind of the idea behind it.”
And this idea actually works. The campaign attracted some famous and important people in the Bitcoin and Blockchain industry. For example, a founder and CEO of Xapo, Wences Casares was the first to donate. He contributed 1 BTC for the project. There were other smaller donations as well.
The launch of the project is planned on December 10, on Human Rights Day. That is quite symbolic, because women all over the world have the right to be protected from domestic violence. On February 5th there will be a concert in Sao Tomé where Elsa will eventually speak to the public. After the concert Pekagboom plans to visit local schools to raise students’ awareness about domestic violence and abuse. He will also talk about it on local radio and television. Kris Haamer added:
“We’ve created Elsa’s character so she could live on even after the release of the video. She could live on in a comic book, for example. There could be more stories about her. She’s not defined by the violence that was done to her. She’s so much more, with all her dreams and plans, with everything she wants to achieve. And that is the idea – to show all the abused women they can do much more than just suffer the violence.”
Apart from Sao Tomé, the team plans to promote their project to other Portuguese-speaking countries, such as Angola, Mozambique, Portugal, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cabo Verde, Macau and East Timor.
By the way, Kris Haamer has been engaged in promoting Sao Tomé already for several years. He started an organization called Galo Cantá together with Katya Aragão, the producer of the Elsa Figueira project. The organization holds the annual TEDxSãoTomé conference inviting international speakers to “spread sao-tomean ideas to the world.”