Brass for Africa

Brass for Africa delivers music education integrated with life-skills training to over 1,000 disadvantaged children and young people in Uganda, Liberia and Rwanda. Working with community-based organizations, Brass for Africa's team of local teachers provides brass music education, life-skills training and performance opportunities to young people from difficult backgrounds. The intervention provides participating children and young people with music and life skills so that they may fulfill potential by engaging regularly in a structured activity. Brass for Africa is entrenched in the communities where we work to offer peer to peer learning with music as the tool for change. Brass for Africa uses a successful, individual-focused model which includes the following strands of activity:

• Music education: this includes twice weekly brass band training sessions and regular performance opportunities;

• Life-skills: A bespoke life-skills program that is integrated into the music sessions to bolster and support the attributes brought through music;

• Teacher training: a number of ex-participants receive training to work as teachers for Brass for Africa;

• Provision of instruments, equipment and instrument repair.

Our programs provide a safe space and creative outlet for at risk youth, such as those in trouble with the law, those living on the streets or in slum areas, children and youth with disabilities, and those in children’s homes. Brass for Africa aims to create a safe space and sense of community for vulnerable children and young people to gather, learn and grow. This inclusive community allows Brass for Africa to tackle sensitive and stigmatized topics, such as HIV, and run parallel activities that empower participants to serve as leaders in their communities.