While Malaika got its start through word of mouth, school presentations and Tupperware-style bracelet parties, two start-ups are attempting to give it, and other charities like it a national platform.

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Malaika founder Kristen Kenney has a pretty good day job (she is an interactive correspondent for Fox Sports and covered the 2012 London Olympics), but much of the past three years of her life have been devoted to building the nonprofit.

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Charlie Gillett, who presents the BBC World of Music programme, says there is nobody to compare to her, as she was popular in West Africa - after living in exile in Guinea - and East Africa - she recorded a version of the Swahili song Malaika, as well as her home in South Africa.

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