Samba For All!

We at Masamba pride ourselves in being able and willing to work with a wide range of client groups and in almost any location. This last week demonstrated our inclusive nature in very practical ways.

On Monday, we delivered seven workshops in St. Vincent's Junior Boys School, Dublin 1. As the name might suggest, this school caters for the youngest schoolgoers, aged from roughly 5-7 years of age. St. Vincent's also has a reputation for going the extra mile to cater for children with additional needs, and so each class contains children with a range of differing abilities - regardless, everyone is included and everyone us catered for.

At the very same time on Monday, Simeon was over in the National Concert Hall, delivering a drumming session as part of their Music In Mind Programme. This programme supports people with mental health issues, and was a group of teenagers from around the country.

Tuesday for us means Killinarden, and our long-term project working with three primary schools in the area on the 'Sambanarden' project. This project involves children from 4th, 5th and 6th class in each school (10-13 years), who work away in their own schools every week, and then come together every so often to practice for massed performances.

Wednesday was another busy day. In the morning, Simeon travelled to Tullamore in the midlands to deliver another session as part of the National Concert Hall Music in Mind Programme. These sessions are based in the Feinics Centre, which is an annexe of the Midlands Regional Hospital, and most of the participants are older people.

https://youtu.be/vKFjtq9zsuI

On Wednesday evening, we hosted our regular rehearsal, but this week it was anything but regular. This week, we opened our rehearsal to a wider audience as part of the UNESCO Dublin Learning City Initiative. This is a great initiative which aims to encourage adults to engage in informal education opportunities - something close to our hearts, as Masamba has always valued the benefits of lifelong learning in the community.

Thursday evenings is set aside for the Masamba Youth Project. Our youth project has operated continuously since 1999, and offers free drumming sessions for children from throughout the greater Dublin area. It is a diverse group, with children from a range of nationalities and backgrounds represented. In fact, almost all of our workshop activities cater for a wide range of nationalities, cultures and religions - all are welcome and all are valued.

So in just four days, we worked with a range of ages from 5 - 80+, delivered workshops in urban and suburban environments, and worked with a vast cross section of modern Irish society - long may it continue!