Ghetto Classics
When you walk into the compound where Ghetto Classics in Korogocho is located, an energetic joy hits you. It’s loud and lively, and a large number of people in the compound are young, aged between pre-teens to early adulthood.
The name Ghetto Classics perfectly explains what this project, started as a collaboration in 2008 between the CEO Elizabeth Njoroge and Father John Webotsa, is all about. It gives children from humble backgrounds, informal settlements and slum areas a chance to play instruments, with a focus on classical instruments.
It started as a children’s choir, until they got their first donation of instruments from Goethe Institute, and thereafter followed by a string of donations which birthed an orchestra boasting of about 300 children in the program, some who are in boarding school and get to come only on school holidays.
Over time, other centres opened up, one in Mukuru kwa Reuben which has about 250 students, and another in Mikindani, Mombasa with about 150 students.
They also work with four schools in Nairobi.
We got to talk to four students, Benson, aged 13 and plays the saxophone, Steve who’s 12 and plays the violin, Peninah, 20 years old and plays the violin (the violin just so happens to be the most played instrument at Ghetto Classics Korogocho). There’s also Viola, who’s 18 years old and coincidentally enough, plays the viola – a larger version of the violin.
Their reasons for joining Ghetto Classics vary. For Benson, he was inspired by his big brother, who’d come home with sheet music and instruments occasionally to practice. Steve got his inspiration from watching shows on TV and seeing people play instruments. He liked how they sounded, it made him happy, so he went straight to the source. Peninah would hear her neighbours playing them and eventually got curious enough to join. She also enjoys watching animations, and would hear instruments in the background of a lot of them. As for Viola, she picked it up from her school choir, and eventually joined Ghetto Classics. She picked the viola because it seemed like fate destined that for her, seeing as she shares a name with it, and she also enjoys the technicality of the instrument itself. Getting to know how it works and mastering how to play it has been a welcome challenge for her.
The centre is open everyday, so the students get the chance to show up whenever they have some free time. Some get to show up daily after school, and for some, they get time to come on weekends and practice.
Just by being there for a few minutes, you can tell that this is more than just a music centre – for them, it’s a second home. It’s beautiful to see how at such a young age, the students here are interested in each other’s progress and success, they cheer each other on and help each other get better at their instruments.
The students say that coming to Ghetto Classics isn’t just about avoiding the idle boredom of being at home when the chores and homework are done and there’s no one to play with, or nothing good on TV. For them, it carries way more meaning that extends to their families too.
Ghetto Classics has paid school fees for a lot of their students, from primary school onwards. Peninah is getting her college fees paid in full by the program, something her parents would not have been able to afford otherwise. This is true for a lot of the other students here.
Being part of this program means they also get to expand their knowledge and their ways of thinking too. Most of them didn’t imagine a future where they get to play instruments like these, or further their education, or even travel as much as they have – thanks to the program, they’ve visited other schools, counties, and even countries, and had the chance to showcase their talent while also learning from others too.
The students also draw inspiration from people like Eric Ochieng, who started out at the centre in 2009 as a child himself, and is now in charge of programs at the centre and also teaches a class. Seeing the change that the centre has brought to his life inspires the students that they could also soar above the heights that society and circumstance has set for them.
A visit to any slum area in Nairobi will show you neglected the people are, and especially the children. Everyday is marred by not having access to proper housing, clothing, education and even food is heartbreaking. And even before the government announced funding cuts in education, a lot of these children couldn’t even afford a uniform, shoes or books for school. The quality of education they’d get was also wanting.
Their families live on any shilling they get, and although one shilling may have no value to a lot of us, for them, that’s a tomato to make the meal slightly better. Or a matchstick. Anything that can burn an ember of hope in an otherwise grim reality.
What Ghetto Classics does for these children is what the government should be doing. Access to quality education, equal opportunities with their peers in better situations, a chance to have some extracurricular activities, and just at having a chance at life.
