Lemar goes to Ethiopia to strut his stuff.

Lemar Obika must have thought his singing and dancing tutorials were over after he exited the BBC1 talent show Fame Academy and went on to sell 1.2 million copies of his first two albums.
In his new role as a Christian Aid ambassador, the singer saw a choreography class with a difference on a trip to Ethiopia last month.
Lemar witnessed the work of the Adugna community dance troupe, which gives young people dance instruction, which they then use to educate others on HIV/AIDS awareness. The Adugna dancers also give disabled children a chance to experience dance.
‘I saw some really high class professional stuff,’ recalls Lemar. ‘Some were good at acting, some were using traditional African dance to express their message and in the last piece they even surprised me and choreographed a piece to one of my songs, ‘Soulman.’
‘The teenagers there told me that dancing is an important way of getting them off the streets and giving their lives focus. It was really inspiring to see the result of their hard work.’
The singer also saw non-musical endeavours of the Gemini Trust, which was formed two decades ago to help women with twins. It has so far assisted 1,162 mothers and more than 10,000 children. Lemar saw cinnamon milling and school uniforms being made.
His visit coincided with the eve of the start of school term. He also went to the home of Misrak, a single mother of four who has just started receiving help from Gemini. It had a profound effect on Lemar.
‘They didn’t even have windows. They cooked and slept in the same room. The Trust has just given her a mattress. She told me before that it was like sleeping on sand. If it wasn’t for the Gemini trust, I don’t want to think about where that family would be. This has given them hope.’
It was the first trip to Africa for the singer, who has just won two MOBO awards, since his early teens when he lived in his parents’ home country of Nigeria. He also travelled north to Lalibela, where he saw the work of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC), which is supported by Christian Aid.
EOC introduced Lemar to Yismaw, a farmer who has been taught how to become more self-sufficient. ‘I grow papayas, avocados, mangoes, cabbage, carrots, red beets and onions now,’ he said. ‘Now I’m able to support my children and send them to school because of EOC projects. I transferred my knowledge to farmers as far as 30 kilometres away.’
Lemar came away impressed by the work of Gemini and EOC. ‘It’s great to see how a little bit of education can help people. It was inspirational to see how people’s donations are changing lives. And if somebody gets back on their feet, they can help someone else.’
Today marks the first day of Christian Aid Week, so we caught up with one of its ambassadors - R&B star Lemar Obika- to talk Ethiopia, Poverty and Fairtrade.

What was the lasting memory of your Ethiopia trip?
Just the spirit of the people. I saw some people in really adverse situations and tough scenarios. Life throws us stuff we can generally handle, but I saw a strong side of these people... speaking to them, they still found a reason to smile and continue despite their problems. A courageous thing to see. That seems to be everyone, people suffering from AIDs, people suffering really serious poverty but all were still being positive and looking to the future. It does make you appreciate what you’ve got in your own life.
How does it differ to Nigeria, where you were born?
Everywhere has their poor and their rich places. Fortunately enough, I wasn’t living in any sheer poverty in Nigeria - I was living in a nice house, had a nice landlord, the villages are poorer in Nigeria, but not to the standards I saw in Ethiopia. It [Ethiopia] had that African feel, that tropical feel, just the level of poverty was slightly different.

How do you convey your experiences to people in the UK who have first-hand knowledge or reference points to the poverty you’re talking about?
Yeah, I think it’s out of the range of most people’s experience. The only thing you can do is talk and hope that they do understand and they do hear. The more you talk about it, the more you raise awareness so people go on the internet and look at things. For instance, on my tour, I’ve got different images and different sections that relate to things that I’ve seen abroad.  I  just think knowledge is power, so the more you try and spread the knowledge to people and they do their own research and go on the internet, sooner or later it gets people to think about other people.

You mentioned the internet a couple of times there. Has it become an important way for people to find out more about Africa and poverty?
The internet’s like a second world, people live millions of miles away, but you can leave a message on the internet now and someone in the US can get it in five minutes. It’s a powerful tool and a good way to get a message across to many people. I could get on the stage and say stuff to a 100,000 people, and if half of them, or even a quarter of them, see or take something from the tour and go to the internet and have a look, those 25,000 people can touch another 50,000 people. Anyway, it just keeps on spreading.

Your album has a poem about Ethiopia in the sleeve notes. Will HIV or poverty make it into your lyrics and music?
Well, I try, so long as it doesn’t feel contrived. On this album I was going to put a song about all the stuff I’ve heard and seen but I couldn’t come up with something that I thought was strong enough. That’s why instead of making a song I made a poem.

You don’t want to come across as preaching to people, presumably?
No, because it can be a turn-off, because it’s far from a lot of people’s lives. If you fly everyone in the UK over to other countries and show them things... which is pretty impossible, so you gently suggest, and then each person in their own time will go and have a look. Any sort of giving should come from a genuine sense of generosity and not because people feel bad or they’re forced to do so.

How important do you think Fairtrade is to countries in Africa?
Yeah, I’m not sure if it’s going to happen or how soon it’s going to happen, and I’m sure it’s something that’s good for the economies of other countries and should help the farmers and other people trying to sell their own products. So I definitely think Fairtrade is important because it enables the people in these countries to earn a living and sustain themselves, and without that you do have a problem.

Do you buy Fairtrade products such as coffee?
No, I don’t go and buy Fairtrade coffee... I’m sure if I came across it I would... I think things like that [social injustice and poverty in developing nations] need to be addressed on a global scale. Governments need to get involved and actually do it, or not do it. Yeah, there are small things that can help [like Fairtrade], but ultimately unless governments actually make a change it’s not going to make too much of a big difference.

Which female singer would you most like to duet with?
The one person who I’d like to duet with is Alicia Keys. She’s got an amazing voice.