Programs

Appeal for FDNC Mbale Music School

Did you know that there is nowhere between Kampala and Nairobi for a child to learn music?

Here in Mbale we’re trying to change that by building a music school and youth orchestra. We’ve already created a Brass Band!

Not every child in Uganda is hungry. While there is no doubt that some children live in desperate circumstances, many of them have the basics but don’t have anything to do! Put simply, they don’t have the opportunities for cultural and artistic development that exist for many other children in the world. This lack of mental stimulation can often take young people down the wrong path and lead to the sorts of social problems that you might expect - crime, sexual promiscuity, and so on.

Over the last few years I’ve been working as the UK representative of a Ugandan charity called the Foundation for the Development of Needy Communities (FDNC) to establish the first brass band in Eastern Uganda. FDNC is based in Mbale - a large town in the east of Uganda - and supports a team of health workers in rural villages, provides youth training in their vocational school, operates an educational facility for special needs children, and manages a child sponsorship program. It’s a hugely worthwhile charity and an important part of the local community.

Our youth band is not just a brass band as westerners would know it. The band performs concerts all over the east of Uganda and the fees it earns as a result are one of the few ways that the charity can support itself. So as well as providing a rewarding pastime for the children in the band, it’s also part of the cultural development in the area and a beacon of hope for the future. Despite the lack of funds for instruments and accessories (we don’t even have chairs!) we have made enormous progress.

We’ve achieved a fantastic amount in a short time with the brass band but we don’t want to stop there. We want to establish a music school and a youth orchestra! Obviously, this is a major undertaking and will require substantial help and support from others. But it’s a hugely worthwhile project. We’ve proved we can create something really exciting with the brass band, and it has given children in Mbale their first opportunity for cultural development and the building of self-esteem and comradeship that musical training can create. We’re all very keen to expand this opportunity to greater numbers of children who are desperately waiting to learn to play. There is incredible enthusiasm for this project amongst the children and staff of FDNC.

To make this project come to life we want to create a music school and provide the children with proper musical tuition. It’s clear that we do not have anything like the £20,000 that we would need to buy a full set of orchestral instruments. So as a stepping stone to establishing a full orchestra we have decided to create a new wind band. We’ve already managed to acquire 6 clarinets and 6 flutes from supporters in the UK. But the problem is that we haven’t got anywhere to teach and rehearse!

We have already bought land in the centre of Mbale, and have managed to build the foundation of the structure. But we have no funds to create a building that will play host to the administrative offices of our charity and provide somewhere for our children to learn to play. We need a building that contains two small rehearsal rooms with keyboards where we can conduct private music lessons, a store for our instruments and music, and a larger space for our group rehearsals. .

So we’re appealing for funds towards our office and music school building or towards the purchase of musical instruments. If you can help in any way please contact me by phone on 0780 193 0404 (UK) or 07731 46983 (Uganda), or contact the Executive Director of FDNC at executive@fdncuganda.org, or by post at:

FDNC
P.O. Box 2431
Mbale, Uganda

There is no doubt in my mind that if we can succeed in creating the orchestra the effect of this initiative has the potential to expand beyond Mbale and the borders of Uganda.

Please help us by contributing to our building fund and to create a life-changing opportunity for so many children.

Thank you for your support.

Philip Monk
Musical Director for Foundation for Development of Needy Communities (FDNC)
Founder – www.ugive2uganda.org


To learn more about the FDNC Center for the Arts and Sustainability that will house our music school, click here!