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Music for Girls' Orphanage!

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Hello All!

This is a video of the girls' orphanage in Jaiaw district in the city of Shillong- the capital of the state of Meghalaya in the northeast of India.



The girls in the video are a range of ages from 6-18! They come generally from surrounding villages in the Khasi and Jaintia hills.The girls speak Khasi first and foremost, followed by English as well (you can hear them count off in both English and Khasi in the beginning of the video, as well as speak in Khasi at the end as they run up to me- they are saying something along the lines of "show me! show me!" - referring to the video I was recording).

This video was recorded in January 2016 by me and the girls from the home! I compiled this video as a supplement to my GoFundMe campaign that I have started in order to raise money to supply the girls with instruments to begin music classes.


When I originally arrived, I was looking to give a few free private lessons to 3-5 girls, but as it turns out- the orphanage has about 70 girls, and they were really excited for a more substantial music program.

I was asked to come every day. My resources were..... well, two broken acoustic guitars.

Since then, I have used my own out-of-pocket funds to repair the guitars, to buy two sets of new strings, new pins, two cases, cleaner and rag, a tuner, and new straps. The girls and I cleaned and fixed the guitars.



Here pictured is Ila playing on one of the guitars, composing a song entitled "It's so nice, it's so cute, it's so beautiful" seen here:




The goal is to outfit the girls with instruments, utimately so that they can construct their own band, as the boys' home had instruments donated to them and has a band as I'm told. The girls already have a rich vocal musical practice (as made apparent by the video here), and have been invited to sing at (generally church-oriented) events (generally for Christmas holidays).

Here is a video of them performing with a backing band in 2010:

Hopefully in the years to come, the girls can back themselves!


My minimum goal is to provide them with: a drumset, keyboard, bass, guitar, vocal mics and amplifiers.

There are a plethora of other things I would like to purchase. It'd be great if I could have more than one instrument because then more girls could have access to them.

I'd like to supply them all with music notebooks and books, tuners, cables, metronomes, picks, cases, more drum cymbals (like a ride cymbal), music stands if possible as well. I'd also like to purchase them the second "low-grade" drumset...not the lowest grade.... because it is SO bad. I would DEFINITELY need to replace at LEAST the kick drum pedal because it is SO bad. But, price difference of the lowest-grade drumset and the second lowest is double (from about 9,000 rupees to about 19,000 rupees). So that is another goal of mine.


The goal is to hopefully have a band put together, so the girls can back themselves up! Having instruments will also be a creative outlet for them as well to jam and to compose! The hope is to construct a "band"... so perhaps with some girls who show the most interest and drive and understanding of music can become ambassadors and teachers as well, and can teach the other girls what they learn. This is another form of empowerment in my opinion.

Since I will be here in Shillong for another 2 months or so- the main intention is to get instruments for the girls and begin a self-sustaining musical program that will long transcend my presence. I will be integrating local musicians and teachers in this project as well.

The money-goal amount I set is completely arbitrary. Extra funds that "exceed" the goal will go towards more instruments and accessories, better quality instruments, donated to the orphanage to keep for maintenance and repair, paying for local teacher/musicians and otherwise donated to the orphanage to use as they feel necessary.

Music has been a powerful element of healing, transformation and growth in my own life, and I hope to share and pass along this gift with them!




Thank you for reading, watching and supporting!

I will hopefully be starting a blog and a YouTube channel for the girls to keep you updated on their progress! I am also hoping to do personal profiles of some the girls and maybe setting up some kind of musical sponsorship program. (But, I am quite ambitious...so... one goal at a time! :) I will post a link to blog/YouTube channel when I start it. For now, all updates will be posted here!).

Write me if you would like more information about my plans or about the girls' home, or if you have any comments or suggestions for me!

Here are some more photos! Enjoy!





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  • Aaron Nell
    • $25 
    • 8 yrs
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Olga Galperin
Organizer
Sunnyvale, CA

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