After learning about the Congo and its challenges, Vid Raturi of Plainsboro decided to do something about the struggles that those in the Congo face on a daily basis. Raturi has planned several events with Joy Bechtler, her voice teacher and co-founder of OPERAnauts, an organization that uses music to elicit social change. A rising junior at Stuart Country Day School, Raturi is organizing an event at Twist on Nassau Street in Princeton on Saturday, June 29.
Raturi raised more than $2,500 at McCarter Theater on Sunday, June 2, after a performance of “Into the Woods.” “I’m really excited about the success of it all,” she says. “The guests snacked on chocolate-covered strawberries, brownies, tater-tots, and many more tasty treats, while I made a presentation about the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
Raturi shared information about the people of the Congo and the conditions they live in. “Did you know that 46 percent of Congolese say that they have personally witnessed a crime or experienced a crime, and 44 percent say they know a child soldier and of that 34 percent have a child soldier in their immediate family? Also, did you know 83 percent of children who died did not make it past the age of five and of those 50 percent had a life threatening disease?”
She told her audience that “recent studies show that most people who are very violent have not developed empathy. Empathy can be lost by trauma, such as seeing a loved one die or being enveloped by an atmosphere filled with violence. But, music can help develop empathy skills.”
Raturi’s plan is to go to Congo to spread empathy through music, to try to redirect young people from becoming violent, and to spread the word of peace. “OPERAnanuts is a small group of singers poised to convene to use their love of music to reply to violence in a more peaceful manner,” Raturi says. “Music can do wonders, and that’s what we strive to do by taking an opera to Congo in an attempt for peace. I loved the approach of taking music to Congo, which is something out of the box. Music is something magical. Everyone reacts to music, even animals and plants.”
More than 5 million people have been killed and 500,000 women and children haev been raped during the conflict in Congo. “With eleven provinces and four major languages, eastern Congo is described as the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman,” she says. “The Congolese’s ethnic tensions and unstable government makes Congo vulnerable to attack.”
“I really wanted to work with this project because I loved the fact of taking action and making a difference by not just helping a neighbor take his/her groceries in or planting a tree, even thought those are important, but helping people you have never met before, thousands of miles away, in a whole different continent, gain a sense of relief and peace, something we take for granted,” says Raturi.
Benefit Afternoon, OPERAnauts to Congo, Twist, 84 Nassau Street, Princeton. Saturday, June 29, 5 to 10 p.m. 10 percent of your purchase benefits the organization. E-mail Operanauts@gmail.com. operanauts.net.
