‘Music to the Rescue!’

Communal area at MLISADA home

This week I visited a very special organisation called ‘MLISADA’ to meet 4 new violin pupils. MLISADA stands for Music, Life Skills, and Destitution alleviation, and its mission is to reduce the number of children living on the streets, and to provide opportunities to less privileged children in Kampala. The orphanage was started in 1996 by ‘Bosco’ and 7 of his fellow street children friends with the dream of starting their own brass band. As the MLISADA motto ‘Music to the Rescue’ suggests, music is at the heart of their organisation. As well providing shelter for around 80 former street children - with meals, basic health care, clothing, and schooling - MLISADA also give children music lessons and encourage them to join the MLISADA brass band, which perform at more than 100 functions a year. In addition to all the wonderful life skills the children learn from making music together, the brass band is also the orphanage’s main source of income. I highly recommend watching this short film, made by Musequality, featuring MLISADA. 
 

MLISADA brass band

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to experience the band in action at The Sheraton Hotel. Their performance was full of contagious fun, and all the players clearly loved the music they were performing (in particular, I distinctly remember the tuba player really enjoying Abba’s Super Trouper).  

Although MLISADA is best known for their brass band, since its beginning 17 years ago, their children can now also take lessons in ‘cultural dance’, acrobatics, and violin (cue me!) When I visited the orphanage on Thursday, my new violin students were not yet back from school so I waited in what seemed like a quiet area out of the way. Within 60 seconds I had a baby in my lap and about 10 young children climbing on me, stroking my intriguing skin, questioning where I was from and why I was there, playing with my hair and jewellery (note to self, tie hair up next time, and don’t wear accessories), and asking if I had come for ‘uncle Bosco’s birthday’ (I wondered why there were balloons everywhere!) They were all very sweet and welcoming.

Bosco, and a handful of MLISADA orphans

Finally, about an hour later - by which time I had attracted a crowd of about 40 children – the last handful of teenagers arrived back from school, from which four beaming girls came to introduce themselves to me as the violinists. They explained that they were given a few lessons last year by another visiting volunteer. One of them, Rebecca, asked me to teach her the happy birthday tune which she learned incredibly quickly. She then proceeded to perform it perfectly to Bosco and all the other children. Although the impromptu birthday party meant I couldn’t teach as planned, it was lovely to meet everyone, especially my very keen (and evidently musical) violin pupils.
 

Me and Rebecca (um, and a baby drinking coke? I'm pretty sure this was a joke for the camera!)

In what seems to have been a week full of celebration, it was also Ugandan Independence day on Wednesday. My host family threw a lovely garden party for the local neighbourhood. There was a delicious Ugandan lunch, music, children’s party games, plus we borrowed some violins from Kampala Music School so I could give some of the local children a taster violin lesson! 

Independence day party games

  
 Click here for more information about MLISADA.