Ban Mok Cham, Thailand

When the Maekok River in Northern Thailand formed an oxbow lake, the bustling hill-tribe village of Ban Mok Cham found itself cut off from its main source of trade. Their response was to set up a cultural centre to keep their Shan traditions alive and to attract visiting school groups to share their culture.

After hearing that they wanted to develop a music programme Musequality gave them a grant to build a performance centre (pictured above) and to buy instruments. The centre was officially opened at a blessing ceremony in December 08 and earlier this year a party from the village travelled down the river into Burma to buy instruments from a Shan instrument maker. More instruments are now being made for the project locally.

Since we made our original grant, a very generous benefactor has given a donation to fund teachers’ salaries on the project for the next three years.  Thank you, or should we say, khorb koon!

Childs Play, Goa

On 5 January, Child’s Play had its first session at the Hamara School in Goa, India. Project manager, Dr Luis Dias, said there was huge excitement as 15 children had their first violin lessons.

The Hamara School serves communities of Panjim and areas surrounding Panjim. Living conditions in these communities are poor: for many there is no place to live, most of these children suffer from malnutrition and have no means to get education or medical help.

Hamara school was founded by Mrs. Mangala Wagle , Pratinidhi ( Goa Branch ) of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust and a few volunteers who were concerned that children from the slums were being deprived of an education and being forced to earn a livelihood at this tender age. The school day runs from 9:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m. Children are provided with breakfast, lunch and an evening snack. The children are taught hygiene and basic primary level education.

Hamara School has grown, continuing to support neglected children. The school’s ethos is that everyone has a right to childhood and every child a right to dream. Hamara School works to help children fulfil their dreams. In the words of Mrs Wagle, ‘We at Hamara school believe that the only way to teach children from deprived sections of society is through love and care.’

Elgon Youth Brass Band, Mbale, Uganda

Fredrick Kyewalyanga couldn’t afford the stamps to post us the form applying for funding for a new brass band he wanted to start in the town of Mbale, Eastern Uganda. He found someone travelling to London who delivered it by hand and, although at that time, we didn’t have any spare funds, we were determined to help him get the Elgon Youth Brass Band off the ground.

In the meantime, Fredrick has shown us just how resourceful he is. He’s scraped together instruments and now has 50 children involved in his group.  They’ve already given concerts and are making good progress. The good news is that, through a generous donation from the Company of Girdlers', we’re now able to help them on their way. This grant has enabled Elgon Youth Band to buy marching drums, two sousaphones and other instruments and will be covering staff costs and rent.

"Ever since musequality started paying for the house where the needy/street children sleep now, life for these kid at Elgon youth brass band has changed, no more sleeping on the streets. I wish you were here to see the joy they have now." Kyewalyanga Fredrick

Koforidua Unit School for Deaf and Handicapped Children, Ghana

The Koforidua Unit School for the Deaf in rural Ghana gives hearing-impaired and handicapped children the opportunity to learn American Sign Language (ASL), acquire a trade whereby they may become self-sustaining, and receive an academic and vocational education that will give them an equal footing in society.

The school were keen to start a percussion instrument project using traditional Ghanaian instruments. A Musequality grant has enabled them to buy instruments and pay teachers’ salaries for the first year.

The music project has already had a positive impact with improved attendance at the school, encouraging participation of children who were previously withdrawn and increased parental involvement at the school.

Embu County Primary School, Kenya

One of the organisations we made contact with through the World Busk is the charity, Moving Mountains who fund a school in the slum district of the Embu, Eastern Kenya.

They were keen to introduce music into the school curriculum and had even managed to get support for a qualified music teacher.  They just needed instruments. We’ve given them a grant to buy a much-needed keyboard and an amplifier so that it can be used during their open-air assemblies. There’s a little left over to buy books and other instruments but they still need recorders. Do you have a descant recorder that is gathering dust? If so, please email us with the subject line ‘Recorders for Kenya”. Email: david@musequality.org