Komai raises close to US$50,000 for FOCHTA’s music program
Katelyn Faith and Amelia Reid, the founders of Komai, a social business driven by creativity for cause, have very successfully raised US$48,000 towards setting up FOCHTA’s first music project which will send musicians and some volunteers from the United States to the Thyolo District towards the end of May 2013. There will be a rotation of teachers throughout the year with their airfares subsidized by Komai.
Please find more information below from their website: www.indiegogo.com/komaimusic
Our first project, Komai Music, is an after-school music education program for children in Malawi, South East Africa. In 2013, we aim to implement the pilot project with our collaborators, including local non-profit, FOCHTA, LA based band, Islands, Malawian musician Masauko Chipembere andcreatives in music, film and photography… this is where you come in! We need your help to raise the initial funds to make our dream a reality.
While we were in Malawi earlier this year, we realised that one of the country’s biggest assets is the innate musical talent and rhythm of its people. However, due to political instability in the 1990s, arts were repressed and music was censored. Today, children in Malawi have very little access to a creative arts education and we aim to change that, one child at a time. Gaining an education in the arts is imperative. It cultivates communication and problem-solving skills and not only that, it fuels happiness, confidence and a sense of empowerment.
Furthermore, the Thyolo region, where the project will be implemented, has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in Malawi which has resulted in a large population of orphaned children. They are often required to grow-up all too fast in order to help provide for their relatives and survive. Providing a creative outlet will act as a source of happiness, motivation and inspiration, opening their eyes to new possibilities and combating feelings of isolation, despondency and loneliness. As a result, introducing lessons in creative arts will help to provide the region’s future generations with a better foundation from which to create solutions to their social, economic and environmental problems.