Feb 25, 2010
A Visit to the Ntonga Music School
What an incredible week it has been in South Africa! This was my first trip to South Africa with Playing For Change, and after countless emails, phone calls, and video chat meetings across the miles from Los Angeles to Cape Town, it was incredible to finally see the school and meet everyone in person.
We arrived in Cape Town after a long journey from Tamale, Ghana, that took us through Accra, Lagos, and Johannesburg before finally reaching our destination. We began our week with a visit to the Gugulethu township just outside of Cape Town, where the Ntonga Music School is located. Upon arriving at the school, we were welcomed by Ntonga board members Phyllis and David and Ntonga’s co-founder, Pokie Klaas. We were all happy to see each other and anxious to get to work! With the structure of the school completed in 2009 and basic classes already underway, our immediate goals were to make progress on a more comprehensive curriculum, enroll more students, offer more classes, and create a better system of communication through phone and internet resources. We all had our work cut out for us! Thanks to everyone’s dedication and creative input, we were able to get a lot accomplished in a short amount of time.
One of the highlights of the week was a trip to the music store to buy more instruments for the school. The classroom is now fully equipped with drum kits, practice drum pads, and other percussion instruments; electric bass and acoustic guitars; recorders; music stands and more. Hopefully it will be enough to accommodate the growing need as more and more children want to sign up for classes! When we left the store, the van was filled to the roof with new supplies for the school and we couldn’t wait to get them set-up and ready for the kids to start practicing on. As we were leaving the store, Pokei had a huge smile on his face and said simply, “My dreams have come true.” I think we all shared in his joy at being able to give something back to the kids of South Africa.
The week culminated with a festive day of celebration at the school on Saturday. We announced the “Open Day at the Ntonga School” and invited people from near and far to visit the school. People came from all over: prospective students, local musicians, neighbors from Gugulethu, reporters from South African newspapers and television stations, community leaders, teachers from nearby schools, and more. Every seat was filled and the crowd spilled out from the classroom to the school courtyard and all the way down to the street. It must have been one of the hottest days on record in Gugulethu but everyone was having so much fun that no one seemed to mind the heat!
Some of the kids brought their own instruments from home and treated the school visitors to performances on trumpet, saxophone, guitar, drums, and keyboards. These kids are all talented musicians and we were delighted to hear them play. While the kids were playing, a local band showed up with Marimbas and offered a workshop to students before delivering an incredible performance of their own. For the grand finale, Ntonga teachers Pokei, Sam, and Sakewo took the stage and were joined by some of the young trumpet and sax students. I think I can speak for the rest of the PFCF crew in saying we were honored to be there and share in the special day; it was a great day for the Ntonga School and a promising sign of things to come.
-Shauna
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