Youngsters in Scottsville are joining bands and not gangs.
Since picking up the guitar last year, 14 teens performed in their first concert at Bethel Tabernacle Full Gospel Church on Saturday.
Their music and personal journeys in a community rife with gang violence and unemployment will form part of a short documentary about the Kraaifontein NGO Nostop, filmed by Henley Business School in the UK.
Seven students of the business school will visit the NGO later this year in a research project.
“The documentary will tell the story of the NGO to prepare the students who will work on a grass-root level with the NGO and the community. In their research they will look at ways in which to grow the funding base of the organisation,” says Henley Business School coordinator Sam Dreyer.
“The work they will be conducting not only forms part of their own immersive learning experience, but will be of invaluable support to the NPO.”
During their visit the students will examine the relationship the organisation has with all its stakeholders by conducting focus groups.
“The object is to garner support for the organisation and make recommendations for a growth strategy,” says Dreyer.
Jordan van Jaarsveld (15) joined the music programme in November last year after his cousin died in a street-shooting incident in the same year.
“To do music is an opportunity of a lifetime for me, a dream come true,” says Van Jaarsveld.
“Our family was devastated. I was scared every day and did not even want to come out of my room. I was in a dark place. The music classes made me realise that I can still dream despite my circumstances. It has helped me to heal emotionally and mentally,” he says.
Founder of Nostop, Charlene Miles who started the NGO in the midst of the pandemic in 2020, says the music and art programmes have helped many children face tough times. “It gave them back a life purpose and helps them deal with trauma, loss and forgiveness,” says Miles.
Retired musician Peter van Wyk, with the support of his wife took up the task of presenting free guitar classes at his house once a week after receiving a donation of musical instruments that included guitars, drums and keyboard and flutes.
Miles says it is her dream to extend the programme to more children in the community.
“If music can change the world it can change the people in the world,” she says.
