By Audrey Hinkle – Variety Writer
By Nicholas Byrne – Broadcast Staff
Four transoceanic visitors visited Clarke Central High School on Wednesday, Nov. 20th, 2013. Bilhah Ayieko, a music teacher at the Moi Girls High School, and three of her students ventured all of the way from Eldoret, Kenya to tour multiple schools in the Athens area, including CCHS.
The trip marks the first time that students, Ashley Wakesho Mwalekwa, Favour Omondi and Jean Cheptumo, have ever set foot outside of their country, and according to Ayieko, their purpose is to spread information about the band program at their school.
“Ashley, Favour and Jean were chosen to go on this trip because they were the first 10th graders to join the band.” Ayieko said. “They are all musical and very committed.”
Ayieko’s sister, Jean Kidula, is an ethnomusicologist at the University of Georgia. She has helped MGHS receive the donations needed to develop their music program.
“My sister comes home every year and visits me and my school. She always helps us by bringing music materials and books for singing, as the school is very good at choral music,” Ayieko said. “Three years ago when she was visiting the school, we thought ‘Maybe we need a change. Maybe the girls need a change.’”
Choral music is very popular in Kenya, and instrumental music is only in selective, largely private schools, as public schools such as MGHS often do not have adequate funding for the arts. Kidula and Ayieko wanted to make instrumental music an option for more Kenyan youth.
“We thought, maybe we should start a band at MGHS. My sister returned to the US and talked to some of her friends from her department: the Hodgson School of Music, and they collected some instruments from friends and family members,” Ayieko said. “When she came back the following year, she brought a few instruments and instructional books, and that is how (our band program) became.”
The exchange has inspired a philanthropic project conducted through UGA to provide Kenyan public schools with the materials needed to start instrumental music programs. The project is entitled ‘Kenya Play It’. The future plans for the project have not yet been made, however, Ayieko wants the program to evolve and expand.
“Ever since these three girls, every student wants to join the band. CCHS talks about being an International Baccalaureate school and our school has a vision of that. The more instruments we get, the more girls are excited,” Ayieko said. “Young people look for something new in their lives. Young people want to be global. The development of our band program has been instrumental in helping our students become (global).”
More from Audrey Hinkle
More from Nicholas Byrne
