Christmas is meant to be a happy time for everyone! It’s a time for sharing, It’s a time to exchange gifts, a time for families to get together over some aigir or mumu. But not everyone is privileged enough to have a normal Christmas. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, some families are struggling just to get by. One of PNG’s top female artists, Mereani Masani also wants share her work this Christmas by assisting others with their fundraising activities through her music. The Charity drive she’s doing is called the Busking for Charity. “It’s an idea that I came up with since Christmas is coming up and I just thought it would be nice to just be able to use my platform to raise some money for people that might need a little bit of help.” “Whether it’s a medical fundraiser or other genuine reasons, I just wanted to put a little bit of time aside for myself to go and be able to give back to the community with my music.” She added that she will be busking anywhere where there is a lot of people so she can perform and people can walk past and donate in either cash or kind. “The fun part about busking is that I can pretty much do it anywhere at any time,” “It could be in the streets at Boroko, it could be at Gerehu, it could be in town or Ela beach.” “We’ll have a little notice on the side saying what we are fundraising for and the people in charge of that particular cause we are fundraising for will be there to take everything I have raised to take with them to support them.” “I’ve put out a toksave and whoever that comes forward and tells me what they need help with. I’ve got a couple of interested people that have sent in messages, some were for school fees or just people that really need help. I just want to help whoever I can.” “I’ll be travelling around for a couple of gigs so I’ll be doing that in other provinces as well.” She further added that she hopes to inspire her fellow musicians to follow suit and help raise funds to assist people that need help this Christmas. For people that want to be part of the Busking for Charity, you can send Mereani a message on facebook or email her on: mamamasalai.ent@gmail.com. Meanwhile, you can catch Mereani on the 10^th of December at the Sea Park Bazaar Christmas Celebrations.