Musical instruments for 17 slum children in India

Of the 22 chidlren who began the chenda practises 11 have finished the training and the initiation ceremony was conducted. The Mayor of the city and  tousim departements graced the occasion. They were plesantly surprised by the skill that the kids aquired so gracefully. A crowd of over 300 people participated in the initiation ceremony.

Regular practices and perforamnce by chidlren are still continuing. There is a lot of transformation among the chidlren who attended the chenda lessons and went through the rigour of continued practise. Chidlren have improved their attention and there is marked improvement in the academic performance among the children.

We have approached the resorts and hotels in Trivandrum to allow our children to perform during their welcome ceremonies as well as when they need to show case acultural extravagenza. The Leela Raviz hotel has already accepted our request and our chidlren have performed twice of which one was to welcome the West Indies cricket team! New opportunities and exposure for our kids.

Thank you for your contribution to make a difference in the lives of deprived children!

It is almost an year since our chidlren have been training to be experts in 'chenda melam' a unique percussion instrument speicfic to Kerala, India. Our children have learnt the new rhythm in style. Now the group is almost ending their learning sessions in another month. The practise on stones have to give way to practsing on the instruments at the earliest so that they can have sufficient experience on the percussion instrument (chenda) for the 'arangettam' (offical ceremony when a novice  is recognised as a professional chenda player). we require more resources to purchase the 15 sets of chenda. Two have dropped out in the course of the practise.

The chenda practice is an excercise in rhythm and precision. Practising will improve concentration and promote discipline. Our chidlren who have been into the lessons are showing marked improvemnt in their school performance which is indeed the major reason for this exercise. Those who were drop outs have been sufficiently energised to restart their school lessons and chenda lessons. There is indeed a rythm in new learnings-both scholastic and cultural.