Long Break and Sad News

Since December, I have mostly been working abroad and it was not easy to get online, so I took a long (and unintended!) break from this blog. Now I am back home in London, I will be able to post regularly again.

I was so sad to see that the last post I was able to write from Argentina was about "a baby from Bolivia". Tragically, she passed away earlier this week. She had complicated health conditions and the staff at the home where she was living gave her the best care possible. They all loved this little girl very much. They made her short life a happy one. I hope they will draw strength from this as they come to terms with what has happened, and continue to provide care to the others in the home. They were in touch with me the day the baby passed away, and we stayed in contact whilst she was being taken to the chapel. A teenager who is also under the care of that organisation, wrote to me and said that the home seemed empty without the baby.

Running a children's charity can be so difficult, because you get to know about so much pain and it can really  make your heart ache - both for the children and for those who work with them too. 

I once wrote a post about some of the challenges of running a children's charity, and I have great admiration for people who have dedicated their lives to working with children in need, sharing their pain, whilst trying to make the world a better place for them.

I saw a beautiful quote on the facebook page "Angel Baby" which I find so fitting whenever I think about the "baby from Bolivia", who was so well-loved by all in the home:

"There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world."

Sad Statistics on Sanitation, released on UN World Toilet Day

Today has been declared World Toilet Day by the UN. The aim is to highlight the lack of access to proper sanitation faced by many around the world. As the UN's website states:

"While a vast majority of the world's population has access to mobile phones, one third of humanity (2.5 billion people) do not have access to proper sanitation, including toilets or latrines... The lack of improved sanitation largely contributes to the fact that almost 2,000 children die every day from preventable diarrhoeal diseases...Lack of private toilets in schools is a major reason why girls do not continue their education once they enter puberty." 

The South African organisation, Equal Education, today released the results of their audit of sanitation at secondary schools in Tembisa, in Gauteng. Here are some of their findings:

• At over half of the schools surveyed, it is commonplace for more than 100 boys or 100 girls to have to share a single working toilet.
• In some schools, there are days where there are no functioning toilets for students to use.
• No students reported having regular access to toilet paper or soap.
• Many schools have broken or non-functioning taps; sometimes there is no water supply.  
• Long lines at bathrooms keep students from class and bad smells from nearby toilets distract them in class.
• One student said, “My dignity is not there anymore because of the dirty toilet I have to go to every day.”  

Equal Education has presented the findings of their audit to the education authorities in the area and has asked them to release a timeline for developing a plan to address the crisis. You can read Equal Education's full press release, with more details about both the findings, and ideas of what the plan should include, here, and also more about their sanitation campaign in general, here.

Equal Education has also produced infographics, based on their findings, which I have downloaded them from their facebook page to share them with you:

 
I would definitely recommend following Equal Education, either on facebook or twitter to keep up with their news. I had the opportunity to attend Public Hearings, held by Equal Education, in Cape Town, earlier this year. I wish there could be more organisations like this, advocating for quality, and equality, in education systems for children.

Thank you, Equal Education, for drawing our attention to this sad, and pressing issue on UN World Toilet Day. Wishing you much success in achieving improved access to sanitation for these students.

News from Children's Hospital, Cape Town

Social media can take up lots of time! I am trying to learn how to use it in an effective way for my charity, CHW. It is more challenging than it sounds! Today I saw some good updates on the facebook page of the Sarah Fox Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. It is the only children's convalescent hospital serving the Western Cape. I have visited the hospital and seen the great work they do there! I am also hoping to fundraise for them in the future, if they send appeals to CHW.

Babies' ward

Their facebook page was updated from time to time, but today a post appeared from someone new, saying that they would now be responsible for adding to the page. The following was their second post today, which really shows what amazing work Sarah Fox does:

"We now have an aromatherapy programme at Sarah Fox, and I am the lucky person to be the aromatherapist (Fiona M...). I am so enjoying this. It is so rewarding to see a child smile - a child who cannot speak or move- but who feels his feet being massaged and a smile stretches his face. Or the quiet little boy who never speaks and looks VERY serious.. .and then one day he's a little chatterbox.. and you realise the lovely caring staff and the treatment he has had at Sarah Fox, have created a miracle."

The first update asked for more people to like their facebook page, so if you want to do that, you can go to their page here.

Nurses I met during my last visit to Sarah Fox, earlier this year.

(I don't have permission to share photos of the children here on my blog, but there should be more photos on the hospital's facebook page.)

Chatting with a Charity in Romania

Like a lot of people, I dread going to the dentist! I am scared about the pain and I hate hearing the sound of drills as I sit in the waiting room. Actually, I need to remind myself that I am very lucky to have access to dental care. I just finished a skype meeting with Oana, who runs an Association helping underprivileged children, in Romania. My charity, CHW, fundraises for this Association. We talked about the Association's educational programmes and the children's progress. Then Oana said that she has seen that some of the children's teeth are in bad condition. She told me that the cost of having a cavity filled can be equal to the cost of food for a family for a month! She said I could let CHW's supporters know that any donations towards toiletries, such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, and also soap, would all be very welcome. I will pass this message on for her.

It is amazing to know people like Oana, who put so much energy into improving the lives of children who so desperately need help. I will always try my best to support their efforts, as they are really making a positive impact - improving things in the present for the children, and also giving them hope for their future.

Helping Oana (right) at a fundraiser she had arranged at a university in Brasov, Romania, last year. Oana had made jewellery and art work to sell , to support the Association's programmes.

Recycling for Funds in Cape Town

Today is Earth Day! Rita Benjamin, of Cape Town, South Africa, is doing something amazing to fundraise, whilst helping the environment. She is recycling, and has asked people to give her their plastic, glass, paper, cardboard and tins, instead of just throwing them away. She will then take all this to a recycling centre, and can get some cash in exchange. She is also making low cost duvet covers and has asked for factories to donate any cut-offs, which they would otherwise throw away. This all sounds good, as Rita is encouraging people to recycle, which is an excellent cause in itself. However, she is also fundraising for a great reason.

Rita with some bottles, ready for recycling.

Rita and her husband, Alvin, adopted a baby, Melanie, three years ago. Melanie, was later found to be deaf. She recently had a scan. Doctors at Tygerberg Hospital, in Cape Town, have said that Melanie can undergo an operation to have a cochlear implant. Although the Government will sponsor most of the costs, Rita and Alvin, must still raise 40,000 Rand (£2860) for the operation. This is why Rita is fundraising through recycling. The operation will be on 21 June 2013. This date was only confirmed in April and Rita may not be able to reach 40,000 Rand in time. If you are able to help, by either contributing, or by telling people about Melanie's operation so they can help, please go to this site: http://www.kapipal.com/melanie. There is more information, and it is possible to make a donation.

Rita with Melanie at a guidance class for parents of children who

are deaf

So, what will happen with Rita's recycling initiative after June? Rita is the founder of Seawind Educare and has set up three creches around Cape Town for disadvantaged children. These creches aim to give the children the best possible start in life. Once Melanie's operation has been paid for, Rita will continue fundraising through recycling, to support the creches.

Rita with some of the children at one of Seawind's creches

Rita is helping many children, as well as the environment, and it would be so much appreciated if anyone were able to help her child too.

Melanie with her school bag. She attends a special 

school for children who are deaf.

5 Tweets Marking World Day Against Child Labour Globally

World Day Against Child Labour is every 12 June. It was launched by the International Labour Organisation in 2002. There is more information about their campaign for 2012 here. Events were arranged around the world. Here are five tweets, with links describing either what events took place on the Day, or highlighting child labour issues in different parts of the world.

1. Ghana:
Ameyaw Debrah - @ameyaw112: GHANA MARKS WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR tinyurl.com/86hkx9z


2. India:
Trivandrum News - @trivandrumnews: World Anti-Child Labour Day Observed - Yentha bit.ly/M64ESe


3. United States:
Child Labor Coalition - @ChildLaborCLC: Terrific blog by former child farmworker Norma Flores Lopez on World Day Against #ChildLabor http://ow.ly/bxmeA @CIFcampaign


4. Sierra Leone
Sierra Express Media - @SierraExpress: As We Celebrate Child Labor Day … - http://tinyurl.com/87mafrl


5. Jamaica:
Jamaica News - @jamiacanewsblog: Message by PM Simpson Miller to Mark World Day Against Child Labour: Jamaica is proud to once again join the glo...http://bit.ly/M3FF29



Finally, a lot of people retweeted The Atlantic's In Focus Photo Essay for World Day Against Child Labour. There are photos from around the world. You can see it here and follow In Focus (@in_focus) on twitter here.

Help CHW Host a Service Project in Time for the Olympics!

Children's Helpers Worldwide (CHW) has been invited to take part in a campaign with an Olympic theme, and you can be involved! The theme of the service project is youth, health and sports. 

We need ideas, volunteers, partners and participants, so there are really are lots of ways you could get involved! The event would be in London, as this is where we are based, but if you have ideas, or have done a similar project that we could now organise as well, it would be great to hear from you, wherever in the world you might be!

Details of the Campaign

The Campaign is being run by Global Service Leaders (GSL). They have just launched a new campaign, called "Relay Volunteerism."  The idea is that organisations in different countries will form "teams" and host a service project (a volunteering event). Each week leading up to the Olympics, a different country will host their event (like the Olympic torch is relayed across countries). GSL would like the grande finale to be in London, as this is where the Olympics will be, and hopes we could host our service project in the week starting July 20. I have pasted GSL's full details of the Campaign at the bottom of this post.

The Campaign focusses on youth, sports and health, so any service project should involve youth and focus either on sports or health (or both, if possible!). I asked what sort of projects GSL had in mind and this was their reply:

"For the Campaign we want organizations to host a service project involving youth and highlighting sports and health. Some ideas are park and playground clean-ups, sports day, etc. This campaign can help fundraise for the organization involved, as long as the association with the Relay Volunteerism Campaign is there."

As it can be a fundraising event, I would love it if it could raise money for CHW! One of our current projects is related to health - we are trying to raise funds to start a children's music therapy project for a rehabilitation centre in Argentina. We are also trying to fundraise for a playground project in Ghana, and support for this would be great too.

Making it Happen!

I realise that July is not too far away! If you would like to be involved and can help, we would need the following to make it possible:

1. Ideas!

If you have an idea for an event that relates to this theme, please let me know. 

It would hopefully be a relatively simple idea... and one where we could easily sort out a venue.

2. Volunteers

If you are happy to help out with this event, whatever idea we eventually come up with, please let me know. It will be great to have help on the day, as well as with the planning leading up to it. 

Please also forward this on to anyone else who you think would want to volunteer.

3. Partners

If you are a member of an organisation, if or your work or community may want to get involved with hosting the service project, please let me know, or get any interested people to contact me. GSL will be featuring all organisations involved on their website, so it is a good chance to get some publicity. We would all work together on hosting the service project.

4. Participants

Depending on the type of event, either children/youth will be volunteers on the day (like with the park clean up idea), or the event will be for them (like with the sports day idea). Schools will be closed for the summer holidays by 20 July, which is a shame, as it might have been easier to link with a school and run a project with them. If anyone has links with summer schools/youth projects and think the young people there may like to be involved, let me know.

(NB - I am just using the examples for events that GSL gave - I am looking for other ideas for events!)

I know we are starting from scratch here, but I really think we have the potential to host a service project, and it will be great to involve young people here in London! 

Get in Touch!

If you want to be involved with the service project and can help with any of the above, you can contact me either by email: catherine "at" chworldwide.org, or you can leave a comment under this post.

----------------

GLS's Information on the Campaign

Below are the full details GSL has posted. 

In light of the upcoming Olympic Games, Global Service Leaders (GSL) is proud to announce a campaign highlighting the values of teh Olympic Spirit. GSL brings together members from across the globe to facilitate the sharing of ideas adn resources; with our new campaign "Relay Volunteerism" we aim to blend the visible and invisible aspects of the Games emulating one of the most unique aspects of the Olympics: The Torch Relay. With "Relay Volunteerism" we are looking forward to a new approach that draws in our collective resources as Global Service Leaders.

We have taken inspiration from the Olympic mottos of "Inspire a generation" and "Faster, Higher, Stronger" and encourage emphasizing Sports, Health, and Youth aspects of volunteering in this summer campaign.

Campaign Features:

• Each country that signs up will become a "national team" (e.g. Team GB, Team Cameroon, etc.)
  • Each team has to have different organizations working together to create a national campaign (highlighting Sports, Health, or Youth).
  • We are looking to get organizations that may not usually interact with each other to come together as a team and host a national campaign.
  • We encourage organizations to bring in partners to set up the campaign and to join GSL as new members.
• Each team will have one week "bearing the torch". During that one week:
  • The country will be highlighted on GSL.
  • The organizations involved will be spotlighted on GSL.
  • Members from organizations will be featured and interviewed.
  • Members and organizations involved will be asked to submit photos, blog posts and testimonials to feature.
• We have a tentative start date of June 8th or 15th depending on how many countries sign up.

Health and Wellbeing Organisations for Children and Youth in London

Yesterday, the Young Londoner's Participation Network held one of their quarterly meetings. It was on Health and Wellbeing. I was only able to stay for the first part, and wished I could have stayed until the end, but I did get to hear some presentations from a few organisations doing great work for children and youth in London.

Although the projects of my own organisation, CHW, are abroad, we are hoping to partner with other organisations in London to host a service project with a focus on youth, health and sports in the summer (I will post more about this soon!). Also, some of my research has been based on child health and welfare in the UK, so it was amazing to hear from these London-based organisations and learn more about how they work directly with children and young people.

Here is a brief overview of these organisations. They are: Rethink Mental Illness, Living Well, Body & Soul and Young Minds. There was also a presentation by the Greater London Authority Health Team. I have listed links, where you can get more information about each, at the bottom of the post.


Rethink Mental Illness

Rethink Mental Illness does a variety of things, including offering advice and information, running services and groups, providing support online and running campaigns, all with the aim of supporting people affected by mental illness. It has a section of its site just for young people, which you can see here.

Leigh, who gave the presentation, especially told us about their programme, Uthink London, which is a learning programme aimed at young people aged fourteen to eighteen. More about Uthink London can be found on this page of the website.

I saw on their page that Uthink London is running a consultation on their Young Siblings Programme. They would like to hear from people aged fourteen to twenty-five who have a sibling with severe mental illness, and who would like to shape the content of their programme. The contact details are at the bottom of the Uthink London page.

Leigh also talked about the campaign, Time to Change, which is led by Rethink and another charity, called Mind. The aim of the Campaign is to end the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems. A programme is being developed that will be especially for children and young people. A pilot scheme is currently underway.



Living Well

Living Well provides a range of holistic services designed to enable people to better manage their health and wellbeing. The presentation yesterday was about their Youth Services.

There is a great range of programmes for people aged thirteen to twenty-five, including:
RITEstart - an interactive health and wellbeing programme;
txtm8 - a free sex and relationships texting service for young people to ask questions confidentially; CluedUP - a peer-led life skills programme for young people;
InForm - a project looking at the barriers and challenges that prevent young men from engaging with sexual health and wellbeing services. The report can be downloaded from the InForm page.
Youth Work Apprenticeships - These are for people aged sixteen to twenty-five who want to gain experience in Youth Work, Sexual Health and Customer Services.

All of their programmes sounded really effective and I also thought it was great that they are offering Youth Work Apprenticeships too.



Body & Soul

Body & Soul promotes the respect, dignity and wellbeing of children, young people and families living with, or affected by HIV. The presentation, by Emily, mostly focussed on Teen Spirit, their programme for people aged thirteen to nineteen, who are either HIV positive or are close to someone who is.  There are Teen Spirit Evenings every Thursday, with workshops, projects and courses. There are other services available too.

Emily also went on to speak about the Campaign, Life in My Shoes. Research commissioned by Body & Soul showed that there was a strong contradiction between what young people knew about HIV and how they said they would behave. For example, 81% knew HIV could not be transmitted by sharing a cup, but only 27% said they would drink from the same cup as someone who was HIV positive. Emily said that facts alone will not be a driving force for change in behaviour and the Campaign aims to address the stigma surrounding HIV, so that others can be more empathetic towards those living with HIV.



Young Minds

Young Minds is committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. They campaign, research and influence policy and practice, as well as providing expert knowledge to professionals, parents and young people, through their Parents' Helpline, online resources, training and development, outreach work and publications.

They will soon be launching the State of Mind Campaign. So far, the State of Mind: Young Londoners' Manifesto for Mental Health has been produced by a group of young people from all over London.



Greater London Authority Health Team


Charlotte Hall spoke about the London Health Improvement Board. This focusses on a few priority areas, and one of importance to children is childhood obesity. There is the Healthy Schools Programme and the Board is also aiming to develop an overall strategy to tackle this issue. The other part of the presentation was about the Mayor's Health Inequality Strategy, which, of course, has an impact on children and young people in London.




Links:

Young Londoners' Participation Network
See more information on the London Youth website:
http://www.londonyouth.org.uk/supporting-youth-workers/young-londoners-participation-network
Find London Youth on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LondonYouth
Follow London Youth on Twitter: @LondonYouth


Rethink Mental Illness:
Visit their website: http://www.rethink.org
Visit their page for young people: http://www.rethink.org/young_people/index.html
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RethinkCharity
Follow them on Twitter: @Rethink_


Time to Change Campaign:
Visit the website: http://time-to-change.org.uk/
Visit the page about the children and young person's programme:
http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/youngpeople
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/timetochange
Follow them on Twitter: @TimetoChange


Living Well:
Visit their website http://www.livingwellcic.com
Visit their Youth Services Page: http://www.livingwellcic.com/what-we-do/youth-services/
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/livingwellcic
Follow their Youth Services twitter account: @livingwell4yp


Body & Soul:
Visit their home page: http://bodyandsoulcharity.org
Visit their Teen Spirit page: http://bodyandsoulcharity.org/teens/teen-spirit/#s1
Visit their children's section: http://bodyandsoulcharity.org/children/#s1
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BodySoulCharity
Follow them on Twitter: @bodysoulcharity


Life in My Shoes Campaign:
Visit the website: http://lifeinmyshoes.org
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lifeinmyshoescampaign
Follow them on Twitter: @Life_inmyshoes


Young Minds
Visit their website: http://www.youngminds.org.uk
Find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/youngmindsuk
Follow them on Twitter: @YoungMindsUK


Greater London Authority Health Team
Visit the Health section of the Greater London Authority website: http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/health
Download the Mayor's Health Inequalities Strategy:
http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/mayor/publications/health/health-inequalities-strategy
Download the One Year On Report on the Health Inequalities Strategy:
http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/mayor/publications/health/one-year-report-health-inequalities-strategy
Visit the London Health Improvement Board website: http://www.lhib.org.uk

The Importance of Children's Access to Music

Last Thursday I really saw the importance of music. Most mornings here in Argentina, I help at one of the Houses run by an organisation my charity supports, called Bethel. The House where I work provides an amazing and loving home for children and adults with a range of physical and mental disabilities. A visitor came to the House with a guitar, and played and sang for the people there. The reaction was great. One teenager in a wheelchair sat nodding his head to the beat, with a big smile on his face. Another girl, who calls out random words and can get quite agitated, sat calmly, listening to the music, while another boy swung his feet to the tune. It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying it! That afternoon, I was invited to go to a school in the town of Unquillo, which my organisation, CHW, also helps. We had recently given the school a donation to buy music equipment, to be able to provide good quality music education to the pupils, and I was going to see the new equipment. This is coming at a time when back home, in the UK, cuts in the budget are planned for music education.

The Benefits of Music for Children

The effect of the music on the people at Bethel made me think of the music project of another organisation which my charity supports, in Romania, called FAST. FAST is concerned with helping Roma children and families through many different projects, one of which is their Music School. FAST states on its site that music is an integral part of the Roma people's cultural background and it is being lost due to a daily struggle against poverty. By giving the children at their projects an opportunity to learn this music and dancing, the children are able to retain a part of their cultural identity. 

Cultural music and dance: Children from a Roma school perform at the "Gala pentru Supervoluntari" in Brasov, Romania, November 2011; and children at New Life International Children's Home, which CHW works with in Ghana, doing traditional dancing along to music.

Another point FAST makes is that enduring poverty gives youth few chances to express themselves through any outlet and that "music can be an outlet for their interests, energies, and sense of cultural self-worth." Children from any background could be helped to express themselves through music. The Creativity Institute, which makes educational toys in the USA, states:

"Children of all ages express themselves through music. Even at an early age children sway, bounce, or move their hands in response to music they hear. Many preschoolers make up songs and, with no self-consciousness, sing to themselves as they play. Kids in elementary school learn to sing together as a group and possibly learn to play a musical instrument. Older children dance to the music of their favorite rock and roll bands and use music to form friendships and share feelings." (You can see the full article here)

Helienne Lindvall, who attended a music school in Sweden, describes further benefits of receiving music education in a Guardian blog post. She says that singing together created a sense of community between the students, so there was less truancy as students looked forward to school, rather than dreading it. The grades obtained at the school were usually above average for all subjects. Music has been shown to have a positive effect on numeracy and literacy skills as well as behaviour. Summaries of various studies showing this can be found on the 'KidsDevelopment' website.

In November 2011, the UK Government launched it first ever National Plan for Music Education - "The Importance of Music", following the Henley Review, released earlier in the year. The Plan's foreword says: "This National Plan is clear about the importance of music: it will ensure not just that more children have access to the greatest of art forms, but that they do better as a result in every other subject." The UK Government seems to agree with the benefits of music for children. 

The UK's National Plan for Music Education

The Plan states that music education is patchy across the country and that change is necessary to ensure all pupils have access to a high quality music education. From September 2012, new music hubs will take forward the work of local authority music services and will provide a music infrastructure which transcends schools. Hubs will build on existing music services and will consist of different organisations, such as  local orchestras, ensambles, charities and other groups, working in a local area to augment and support music education in schools, as well as offer broader opportunities to children that reach beyond their school. The Federation of Music Services has produced a toolkit for developing hubs. Hubs will be formed in two stages: firstly a lead organisation will create a framework for the hub, which is in line with the National Plan, and it will then pull parties together; secondly the partners will then become the hub. The partners should be a range of providers and stakeholders committed to delivering the local music education plan, according to the area's needs.

Despite the tough economic times, funding has been ring-fenced for music education, although it decreases each year. From April 2012 to 2015, the following amounts will be available each consecutive year: £77m; £65m; £60m. The vast majority of this will be invested in the hubs and should be supplementing local and national funding for music, from, for example, local authorities, cultural organisations, businesses and foundations. Government funding, augmented by equivalent funding from the Arts Council England, will increase for the In Harmony, Sistema England programme, inspired by the Venezuelan El Sistema model. This is a community development programme which aims to use music to bring positive change to the lives of children from some of the most deprived areas of England.

Yesterday it was reported (here and here) that Labour MP, David Blunkett, claimed that the Government was undermining its pledge to provide more children with access to music education by cutting funding "coupled with the near demolition of the role of local government in music education" and that this will reverse the equality of treatment already achieved. He is quoted as saying:


"It would be at least honest if the Government were to come clean and admit that those substantial cutbacks will undermine the life chances of youngsters, not merely in accessing the wonderful creative opportunity and use of talent but also the spin-off effect of music teaching of attainment in other key subject areas."

Jonathan Savage, who has written extensively on music education, wrote of his concerns about the statements in the Plan that the music education hubs cannot be funded solely by government money. This could create an unequal playing field, as some possible leaders of music hubs may have a greater potential to fundraise than others, and this may then become a influential factor in selecting hub leaders. As well as this, hubs in more affluent areas will most likely find it easier to secure funding than those in poorer areas, which goes against the Plan's stated aim for equality.


Classical Music blogger, Tom Service, wrote about the Plan the day it was launched and said that that even though the funding for music education predictably decreased each year, the fact that money was ring-fenced for this made music unique amongst the other school subjects. This meant that the Government accepted the necessity of dedicating money to music education, having taken on board the suggestions of the Henley Review. Service said that he thought the Plan seemed quite good overall, but of course, the important thing is to see what happens next. (You can see his post here.) There is added uncertainty due to the National Curriculum Review currently being undertaken, and so it is left to be seen how this may impact music education in the UK.

A Right to Music?

Children attending the music project run by FAST, in Romania

The child's right to play, leisure and recreation is set out in Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Every country in the world, apart from Somalia and the USA, have agreed to be be bound by the Convention, which sets out children's rights. A simplified version of the Convention was made for children, and it refers to music directly when summarising Article 31, stating: "You have the right to play and relax by doing things like sport, music and drama." This can be found here, on the website for Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People. 

Although music is not directly referred to in the full text of Article 31 itself, States Parties must recognise the right of children to engage in age-appropriate recreational activities and to be able to participate freely in cultural life and the arts. States Parties must also encourage the provision of equal opportunities for children to participate in cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity. The UK's National Plan seems to be attempting to provide equal opportunities, as set out in Article 31, with regards to providing music education, as it aims to address the 'patchy' provision of music education across England.

In the UK, there has been a statutory entitlement to music education for children aged five to fourteen since the Education Reform Act 1988 came in to force.The UK's Plan states:

"Most children will have their first experience of music at school. It is important that  music education of high quality is available to as many of them as possible: it must not become the preserve of those children whose families can afford to pay for music tuition. While music touches the lives of all young people, the disadvantaged can benefit most."

It is recognised how beneficial music can be for the most disadvantaged in society.  Organisations, like FAST in Romania, are doing great work when they reach out to children living in extreme poverty. (FAST is not just concerned with music - it has a general education project, helps build homes for families, and much, much more.) A lot of Roma children across Europe do not attend school. Many states, around the world, struggle with providing a primary education for all children, although making primary education free and compulsory for all is an obligation under Article 28 of the Convention. Where this is the case, it is unlikely the governments will give much (if any) priority to music education. 

Feeling the Beat!

Drumming at New Life International Children's Home in Ghana

The enjoyment of simply having music in their Home was evident from the people's reaction at Bethel, as they heard the beat. Music and music education offer a lot of benefits to children. I am glad that CHW could help children at the school in Unquillo have access to a better music education. The immense benefit of music education is recognised in the UK's Plan for Music Education, and now we must wait and see how effectively it is carried out. I really hope it will be successful in moving towards equal access to music education for children across England. I believe that projects, such as FAST's, are very much worth supporting, as music can enhance children's skills in various areas, be a way they can express themselves, provide a link to the culture and give them a sense of self-worth. I will leave you with a quote from Jim Henson, the television producer and puppeteer, who created the Sesame Street characters and puppets, loved by children around the world:

“Music is an essential part of everything we do. Like puppetry, music has an abstract quality which speaks to a worldwide audience in a wonderful way that nourishes the soul.”