Playing For Change Foundation

The Bizung School of Music and Dance in northern Ghana takes the ancestral tradition of the Bizung “talking drum” to engage youth with cultural and music activities, which are otherwise not readily accessible in the urban community of Tamale. Programming includes traditional music, dance, as well as modern blues music and even an in-house studio for youth to record and learn new technological skills. The Bizung School reaches 90 youth per week.

Highlight: Promoting Identity – Performing traditional Bizung music for the tribal king as recently as PFC Day 2019.

L’Ecole de Musique de Kirina in the rural community of Kirina in southern Mali was founded to use cultural heritage to change the lives of local youth. Many youth engage in the dangerous and even fatal practice of gold mining, and the high school graduation rates as well are very poor. Traditional music, dance, language lessons, and even gardening are offered at the program. It is the only cultural and youth organization in Kirina. L’Ecole reaches up to 100 youth per week.

Highlight: Gender Development – Weekly dance class with up to 100 girls. These activities for girls would otherwise not exist.

The Joudour Sahara Music Program in the small town of M’hamid el Ghizlane in southeastern Morocco serves as the only access point locally for youth to express themselves creatively. Joudour Sahara focuses on traditional music and dance from several diverse ethnic tribal groups who settled in the oasis of M’hamid from different corners of the Sahara desert centuries ago. The program also engages youth through blues music, dance, and community events. Joudour Sahara reaches 70 youth per week.

Highlight: Cultural Preservation – Preserving five ancestral distinct tribal music heritages, with previous support from the U.S. Embassy in Rabat through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.

The Ubuntu Music Program in the capital of Kigali and the community of Masaka targets at-risk youth risk inside two elementary and high schools. Traditional drumming, dance and modern blues music, as well as sports are offered to students. Cultural activities for youth from the communities where the Ubuntu Music Program operates are not otherwise accessible. “Ubuntu” itself means “humanity towards others,” and the Ubuntu philosophy can be summed up as “I am because we are”. This program reaches 150 youth per week.

Highlight: Promoting Social Development and Youth Engagement – Providing otherwise inaccessible cultural and sports activities to youth.

The Imvula Music Program in the Gugulethu and townships surrounding Cape Town operates inside 10 elementary and high schools in some of the poorest communities in the Cape Town region. African styles of music and modern blues music are offered to local students. In the face of extreme inequality, the Imvula program ensures that youth from the most marginalized communities have access to express themselves creatively. Cultural activities would otherwise not be available to them. The Imvula program reaches 300 youth per week.

Highlight: Social Development – Fighting despondency and instilling hope in youth from impoverished neighborhoods.

The Mirpur Music Program , located in the Mirpur slums within the larger municipality of Dhaka, offers free music programming to the poorest youth. Some locals live on as little as $50 / month. Poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition are devastating locally. Albeit a small team locally, this program provides regular programming to over 900 youth across several elementary schools locally. Musicalization, rhythm exercises, and traditional songs are offered.

Highlight: Youth Engagement – Without the Mirpur program, these youth would not have access to music and dance activities.

The Cajuru Music Program in Cajuru, Brazil drives youth development and social cohesion in the suburb of the larger urban center of Curitiba, just a few miles away. The program’s leaders use music as a tool for education to reach local youth, instilling self-confidence, providing structured and supervised activities, and promoting a larger sense of community. The program reaches 60 youth per week.

Highlight: Youth Engagement – In a high-density community, the Khlong Toey program is the only local program that offers free music lessons to children from the poorest households.

The PFC Patagonia program located in the city of General Roca takes a multifaceted approach to youth and gender development. Music classes, orchestras, organic farming and gardening, carpentry, among other activities reach almost 500 youth and women from the region. PFC Patagonia works with local and national government offices to support their programming. Hip hop, graphic arts, instruments making, as well as languages are also offered.

Highlight: Promoting Identity and Skills Learning – PFC Patagonia collaborates with the indigenous Mapuche community, teaching music and digital literacy, and technical digital skills.

The PFC Diamante program located in the city of Diamante, north of Buenos Aires, offers guitar, percussion, accordion singing lessons, as well as traditional music programming to local youth. Diamante is the only access point for local youth to engage with music and the arts. Renowned musician Lee Oskar has partnered with Diamante to provide harmonicas and harmonica lessons.

Highlight: Youth Engagement – Diamante is the only center available to local youth to access music and the arts.

The Khlong Toey Music Program in the Khlong Toey slum serves some of the poorest and most marginalized youth in Thailand. Resources, opportunities, and expectations for a bright future are scarce in this community. Modern music instruments and ensemble performance are offered at this program. In 2012, this program had up to 4 volunteers, a few instruments, and a few students. Now, there are 10 staff members, over 100 instruments, and 80 youth who attend regularly.

Highlight: Youth Engagement – In a high-density community, the Khlong Toey program is the only local program that offers free music lessons to children from the poorest households.

The Mitrata Music Program in the capital city of Kathmandu, Nepal, is located at an orphanage and engages the youth in most need of structured activities. Featuring a staff of professional musicians, this program offers sarangi, flute, madal drums, traditional Nepali dance and art classes to more than 60 youth each week. Without this program, these youth would not have access to music and the arts.

Highlight: Social Cohesion – Mitrata targets the most at-risk youth and works to build inclusivity.

The Musica Music Institute in Lalitpur, Nepal, just outside the capital of Kathmandu, began in a drum shop and has expanded into the current program reaching 60 youth each week. The program offers vocals, keyboard, guitar and drums classes. The program has expanded to also include access to computers, and the ability to introduce recording classes and is hosting public performances so the students can showcase what they’ve learned.

Highlight: Professional Development – Musica student Anu has proven a bright star and model for other youth in Lalitpur.

The Udayapur Music Program is also located in Tintale Village, as well as another location in the small town of Katari. Udayapur reaches almost 150 youth between the two locations, providing music education, as well as other music and dance activities. Facing major obstacles due to class inequality, the local team has worked for over a decade to prove to community members that music can be a powerful tool to tell the stories from the community and promote community development. Both the Mother’s Society and Udayapur programs are now well established in their communities.

Highlight: Youth Engagement – The Udayapur program in Katari has grown from 1 teacher and a handful of students to 5 teachers and up to 125 students. Youth development is otherwise not accessible.

The Tintale Village Mothers Society located in the Udayapur district in eastern Nepal, is one of the poorest and most marginalized communities in all of Nepal. Began as a movement among 35 local women to change their lives and daughters’ futures, the Mother’s Society has reached thousands of community members across villages spread throughout the region. They use music and dance to engage community members and have real conversations about the dangers of sex-trafficking, early marriage, domestic abuse, sustainable incomes through livestock and sewing, among many other themes.

Highlight: Gender Development – Reaching upwards of 400 women and girls in recent visit to remote Hill Tribe Region. Gender development activities are otherwise not accessible.

The Baja Musical Arts Initiative, , located in Tijuana, turns music education and orchestral performance into tools for social cohesion in a community overwhelmed by gang violence. Choir classes, body movement, harmony, as well as instrument classes are offered to youth. Program leaders use these classes as tools to build a sense of teamwork, and provide community concerts to show family members and the community at large the fruits of their children’s efforts.

Highlight: Promoting Identity – Building self confidence among youth who are most prone to join gangs.