As an organization, we believe we can strengthen the development and future of Haiti through education. One way we are currently seeking to do so is through a music program that our school staff is trying to build.
Psychologists, neuroscientists, and experts in early childhood development have demonstrated that music does more for children than bring them joy; it helps their brain cells make the connections needed for virtually every kind of intelligence. Music awakens the sense of wonder in children and awareness of their own creative potential.
Our current desire is to establish a music school in the community of Titanyen, for the children attending Grace Academy and in the future, we desire to open it up to the community. The objective for this program is to reduce juvenile delinquency in the Titanyen area, preach the good news of Jesus Christ to young believers and the unconverted, integrating the youth of the orphanage with the youth of the Titanyen community, and train musicians who will be able to pass on their knowledge to the generation of tomorrow.
Some of the children that will benefit from this program come from very rough backgrounds and their pasts are heart breaking. From physical and verbal abuse to slavery, these children have endured more than any of us can even imagine. Music is one of the instruments that we want to use to help the children relieve some of the pain they carry, as a result of their past experiences.
We currently have 42 children that have completed the solfège training which is a music education method used to teach pitch and sight singing and have now began practice. If you walk around Grace Village on any given Thursday and Friday afternoon, you can hear the joyful noise of trumpets, trombones, saxophones, flutes, guitars, and trumpets.
Some of the instruments we are now using are rented and costly. Please consider helping us make our vision a reality by donating your used instruments to Grace Academy. For more information, please contact Bianca at biancainhaiti@gmail.com.
