Stave House in the Sahara
"Stave House in the Sahara" aims to facilitate the implementation of music and English language education in primary schools in the Saharawi refugee camps (SW Algeria).
HOW DID THE PROJECT START?
Stave House creator Ruth Travers and Sandblast director Danielle Smith initially came together, in 2015, in order to find the best way to introduce the early music learning system to the camps. They approached Sandblast associate and ethnomusicologist, Dr Violeta Ruano, who accepted the mission and then trained as a Stave House music teacher. Ruth Travers generously donated both the training course, the Stave House system and pilot materials to the camps and organised fund-raising events for more materials.
The project began as a pilot, in Feb 2016, in the Lal Adala primary school in Bojador, the smallest of the 5 refugee camps with Violeta Ruano, working tirelessly to implement and adapt the programme on the ground.
GOALS
The primary goals of the project are to:
1. Train local Saharawi teachers to teach Stave House and English.
2.Develop the music programme so that the children can go through the 4 stages of Stave House and received certification for completing each stage of music learning by the time they leave primary school.
3. Involve local musicians to regularly teach traditional music and provide instrument teaching.
4. Invite international musicians to deliver special workshops to expose the children to different genres of music.
5. Generate opportunities for collaborative music projects to flourish between the Saharawi children and children and adults from around the world.
6. Expand the programme so that it eventually is rolled out to all the primary schools in the five refugee camps.
View blog.
ACHIEVEMENTS SO FAR
To date 3 local teachers have been trained in the Stave House method and over 50 children have participated in the programme. From Sept 2017 to May 2018, we had the wonderful support of Beccy Allen, who volunteered 6 months of her time to teach English to the Stave house kids and provided further training to one of the local teachers to continue the English lessons in the Autumn of 2018. In April 2018, over 20 children passed their Stage 1 exams and got their internationally recognised certificates.
SUPPORT RECEIVED
Since 2016, Sandblast has contributed £8000 (for local teacher salaries and project management fees), donated various instruments and has been the main project funder since the Autumn of 2017. Support has also been given by the London College of Music at University of West London for music learning certification of the children participating in the programme. Oxfam gave a small grant of €2500 to refurbish a dedicated Stave House school room in the primary school.
NEXT PHASE
Due to the successes of the project so far and the enthusiasm expressed by the teachers, parents and children for the project to continue and expand, we are taking steps, as requested by the local educational authorities, to introduce the Stave House in the Sahara into a second primary school in the Bojador camp . For this we will need to train 4 more teachers in the first half of 2019. We will also be need to raise money to create a dedicated space for the project within the second school and acquire additional training and teaching materials and instruments. To accomplish this we will need to raise at least £7000.
To help with the training and teaching, we are thrilled to be counting on two volunteers Ben Cooper and Janet Davies who will be going out to the camps to give their time and skills for two months from end of January 2019.
BECOME A FRIEND of STAVE HOUSE IN THE SAHARA
Stave House in the Sahara relies largely on the generosity of individual donors to continue, expand and increase its impact and scope of activity. Why not show your support and become a member of FRIENDS OF STAVE HOUSE IN THE SAHARA by simply pledging £5 or more per month, for a minimum period of one year. This will provide vital support and enable this wonderful educational project to give more Saharawi refugee children a chance to develop language skills and discover their music talents. All this for only 17 pence a day!
Here are the details to set up your monthly standing order now:
Sandblast ltd
NatWest
Sort Code: 60-07-31
Account number: 46536337
As a Friend of Stave House in the Sahara you can also show your support by:
• Contributing your time and skills,
• donating instruments and other educational materials or
• making a larger donation to the online campaign that is raising £6000 to ensure the project can expand to a second primary school. The good news is 64% of the targetted funds have been raised so far. With your support and generosity we are sure to reach 100%. Please help us reach this goal and DONATE NOW.
To give you an idea of how your donation makes a difference:
- £30 provides school materials for one child annually
- £ 50 provides set of classroom instruments
- £100 pays the monthly salary for one local teacher
- £250 pays to buy Stave House teaching materials for a new centre
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support and generosity!
Click here to see the latest short video about the project in the last year.
Below are some short videos at different stages since it began in Feb 2016.
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