Sierra Leone 2023: Day 4 - teaching at JTR and Ballanta

Ballanta - Teaching Today was our first day teaching at Ballanta Academy of Music. We started the day off by giving lessons to groups of students; some who have played the instruments before and some who were complete beginners. It was so lovely to meet people and get to know each other through the music being played. Their sense of community, friendship and support really shone through as they aided each other when learning songs and their passion for music was very prominent. After teaching we did two outreach concerts at secondary schools; one hidden down a very scratch track and the other being a girls school. We had a bit of rough start with getting lost on the way to the first school then arriving there to find out there was a power cut and having to source a generator. However, the second concert could not have been a more unforgettable experience. The girl's came into the concert with such energy and didn’t fail to maintain it throughout. They danced, they sang, they made our year and made this event something money could never buy. Seeing them happy because of what we were giving to them made us all forget about problems in life and getting crowded around with everyone asking for photos made us realise how much of an impact we made to them. This truly was the best experience of my life so far and something I’ll treasure forever. Written by Will Leatt

JTR - Teaching Today (Monday) we had our first day at the JTR school. We were welcomed by a massive parade of children all clapping and showing their appreciation on our arrival. Some were holding big, enthusiastic messages in both English and French, while the rest of them all clapped their hands and sang to us. After having our tour around all the classes, we began teaching our lessons. Me and Buck taught them colours and animals in French, which proved rather difficult as they bustled with personality. Once we had finished our teaching in their sweltering classrooms, we started playing games with the little ones in their play area (their favourite being ‘What’s the time Mr wolf’). Once we were done with that we went on to support the musicians with their concerts. Each school in which we performed once again welcomed us with immense excitement and gratitude. Every song that was played they adored and even started including their own twists to the songs being performed. I think the highlight for me was when we performed at vine memorial school. The cheering was unmatched. Written by Monty