Gift of Music hits right note for our drought affected kids
Rural Aid’s latest project ‘The Gift of Music’ is breaking down barriers for rural and regional kids all over Australia.
Earlier this week, Orange High School were the lucky recipients of new instruments for their school.
Rural Aid General Manager Wayne Thomson explained, “We really want to be able to consider children’s mental health through this time of drought when it is very tough on them. Maybe some were out carrying dead sheep with Dad this morning, this is just to be able to give them a bit of a break - music is just one of those things, they can escape from the realities of life on the land, which aren’t so pretty.”
“Maybe some were out carrying dead sheep with Dad this morning”
Together, Rural Aid donated brand new Guitars, a Saxophone, some Percussion, Djembe Drums, and a box of Lego. “When we were driving here I said to the team, ‘how are high school students going to go with a box of Lego?’ And when we walked in the first thing they said was wow look at the Lego, that’s the coolest thing ever,” laughed Wayne.
“At the end of the day we want more kids playing music, and the looks on their faces when we played in the drum circle, its just worth it. It’s beautiful, it becomes really emotional. If this becomes a bit of an escape for them, then we are ticking the right boxes.”
During their travels, Rural Aid have also made stops to donate hay to local farmers and gift cards to those also in desperate need. “Despite the green look of the paddocks, It’s very dry and very tough.
We delivered hay to farmers who are still hand feeding and it was truly appreciated. A town like Orange which is still large, during times like these, the economy suffers. So we give our farmers gift cards so they can use that money in their local community.”
Year 12 student, Olivia Maksymczuk added, “We are over the moon, it’s awesome, it feels like Christmas. We’ve never had the djembe drums before, so its really cool to sit in a circle and play as a group and really connect and I guess that’s what it allows us to do. By getting new guitars, and a new sax, all of the junior students have the opportunity to learn on really great new instruments.
“We can’t thank Rural Aid enough, as a musician, all of our senior music students really appreciate it, but also the school as a whole, they have given us the opportunity to start those juniors with quality instruments.”