FDNC MBALE YOUTH BAND

With the founding of FDNC in 1996, a brass band was formed as a strategy to channel the energy of street children and idle youth into productive activities. At the time, the band had no instruments, yet the members eagerly studied music hoping that instruments would become available soon.

In 1999, their quest was answered when the U.K.-based Camberly Youth Wind Orchestra donated 50+ assorted brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments to begin producing music in earnest. That was the beginning of this dream come true.

The young band members have developed into musicians that are capable of performing for the benefit of the community and raising funds to enable them meet basic social needs.

The FDNC Mbale Youth Band Program currently has five performing groups: Natondome Village Brass Band, Natondome Village Jazz Band, Natondome Village Junior Band, Mbale Town Brass Band, and the Traditional Dance Troupe. For major performances, we partner with the Hope Theater, a well experienced traditional African dance team based in Sironko.

The FDNC Youth Band performs at many different types of functions and events including weddings, concerts, parades, civic and community functions, and HIV/AIDS awareness events in the Eastern part of Uganda, and beyond. They play a range of music, from marches to anthems and popular African and Western tunes. In addition to playing brass instruments, band members play traditional African instruments and perform traditional African dances from different regions of Uganda.

In November 2005, the FDNC Youth Band was invited to the UK and performed in various cities including Pontypridd, Chepstow, Frodsham, Reading, and others. This was a huge success for the program, and we are hoping that this trip we will help the program to secure many other international trips.

OBJECTIVES:
The FDNC brass band is guided by several meaningful objectives:

To build a sense of hope and pride among youth who have grown up among poverty, malnutrition, and other economic hardships To provide guidance, structure, and purpose in the lives of youth who may otherwise be out-of-school and/or unemployed, and at risk of indulging in self-destructive activities. To equip youth with musical skills in brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments, enabling them to provide quality entertainment to the community To provide orphaned and/or vulnerable youth a viable opportunity for income generation to support their families To bridge the gaps between young and old & rich and poor by using music as a means to help people communicate and learn from each other

It is FDNC's aim to keep brass bands alive in the Mbale area in this generation and the next. FDNC continues to appeal to friends and well-wishers to support the band with additional musical instruments so that many more young children learn musical and other life skills.

We are grateful to the various partners that have made the band's success possible, particularly ugive2uganda, a UK-based charity that has provided additional instruments, uniforms, musical training and funding to train a music teacher and to purchase a bus to transport the band to engagements.

CURRENT GOALS:
Through partnership with ugive2uganda, FDNC has embarked on an exciting project to create a music school and the first youth orchestra in East Africa! We strongly believe that this will be a tremendous milestone for the Mbale area, exposing many members of the community to an art form they have never seen, improving the general welfare of the community, and building for future generations.

CONTACT US:
To book an event or to request more information, please contact us by email at info@fdncuganda.org or fdncugandaoffice@gmail.com or by phone at +256 782642786.

Please also contact us to find out how you can be involved in the development of the brass band, as well as the creation of a music school and the first wind orchestra in Uganda!

Unless we have an engagement, our daily rehearsals take place at Natondome Village and at the Mbale Municipal offices from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, where you are always welcome to come and listen and support this cause.


Please enjoy the photos below. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.