By Buhle Made and Thapelo Matlala
The Joza Youth Hub’s Access Music Project (AMP) is going from strength to strength in its dedication to changing the lives of its members.
AMP gives people from 9 to 35 years old the skills to access further studies and opportunities in music and a chance to experience the many personal benefits gained through participating in the creative arts.
Gareth Walwyn and Shiloh Marsh established the access music project in 2011 after realising that the community has enormously talented kids who have the desire to pursue music as a career but who were barred from opportunities due to a lack of formal music training as a result of the entrenched inequalities in South Africa’s education system. The programme hosts approximately 50 learners in its main programme and serves another 80-150 when running outreach projects. The pupils are afforded top-notch music training. The programme prepares them for internationally recognised music grade examinations and university auditions. This equips the young protégés to embark on music studies at university.
Learners start as early as school, grades 4 or 5, remaining in the programme up to grade 11, with the aim to reach music grades 5-7 by the time they exit.
Ngeju says he realised that many students arrive with the mentality that “music is easy”, but when the going gets tough, they are nowhere to be found.
However, some arrive with a vision, such as Athenkosi Nelani, now a PhD candidate at Rhodes University. Another graduate, Bulelani Mfuku, said he joined the project through the outreach program, eventually reaching the university entrance level.
“This programme has helped me so much because it has provided me with facilities such as Wi-Fi, computers, phone calls, and the list is endless. I used their resources to apply to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, where I study Architecture. Currently, I am a practical facilitator, and I help students with some of the basics of music,” said Mfuku.
Access Music Project is a non-profit organisation running mainly off grants and donations. Over the years, some of AMP’s primary funding partners have been ABRSM, the Department of Arts and Culture, Khula Cape Foundation, The Learning Trust, MAID Foundation, the National Arts Council, the National Lotteries Commission, Rotary, SAMRO Foundation, and the Solon Foundation. All learners between Gr 4-8 are welcome to join AMP.
*Grocott’s Mail is republishing this article as there were some inaccuracies in the original article. We apologise for this oversight and thank our readers for your continued support.
