One Sunday afternoon, I got to witness very heartwarming performances by seemingly ordinary kids, who turned out to be extraordinarily good at what they do. Thanks to the combined efforts of mobile phone giant Nokia collaborated with RockEd Philippines1 , those street kids have something to look forward to for their future. I’ve seen a lot of similar volunteer efforts before but that doesn’t stop me from shedding half a tear (sometimes a full tear or two) whenever I see the effects of such work on the kids. I always feel this indescribable feeling whenever I see kids and feel the warmth and happiness emanating from them. That Sunday afternoon, I came to realize that I’m not that mean after all.
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The event was a press conference showcasing the musical talents of street kids who are part of a project called Nokia ACTS. Short for Artists Coming Together to Serve, Nokia2 ACTS is a project of Nokia Philippines and RockEd Philippines that aims to make an impact in the lives of the street kids by giving them a chance to excel in something, and in this case, in the field of music. Nokia ACTS is more of a music camp wherein kids get to learn musical instruments, rehearse as a band, and eventually perform as a band. And who better to learn about these than the music industry’s best, right? Some modules in the musica camp have been and will be conducted by some of the country’s greatest in the field of music: Noel Cabangon, Francis de Veyra, Juan Miguel Lerma, and Jay Gapasin, among others.
Nokia ACTS is more than just a music and arts camp though. Apart from their regular music camps (which they hold every Sunday, if you want to volunteer, you may get in touch with RockEd Philippines), the project also has a lot of other things in store for the street kids. The expansion plan is already in the works, and it involves provisions for medical and dental support, mentorship, a community, and productive projects that kids can do to fully maximize their time.
Gang Badoy, Founder and Executive Director of RockEd Philippines, shared that the music camps also try to maximize all the resources possible to make the experience more than just worthwhile for the kids. The scholars also get a taste of that “school bus” experience everytime they get picked up from their places to get to the camp venue. This initiative also helps the kids’ jeepney driver neighbors because the project rents a jeepney or so every week to serve as the scholars’ school bus. The project really does maximize the benefits for everyone in the community. But what struck me most was the idea of making the children experience even the tiniest bit, the smallest percentage, of that family feeling.
Through Nokia ACTS, Nokia hopes to arm 120 kids with music skills, offering them a chance to upgrade their lives through donation drives for 3 years. Beneficiaries can either perform as bands, solo artists, vocalists and instrumentalists. The street children participating in the Nokia ACTS program come from foundations such as ChildHope Asia and Virlanie Foundation.
I went home that day feeling elated that I got to share an afternoon of music with kids who were transformed from ordinary to extraordinary!
(You too can make a difference in these kids lives, you too can help the kids in tune with life by volunteering your services or donating musical instruments.)
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Photos here:
- In 2005, Rock Ed Philippines (Rock Ed) started out as a volunteer group of teachers and musicians. The group’s vision is to make the Filipino teen-ager more interested in participating in society. The goal was to encourage involvement. The convenors of Rock Ed decided to Rock Society through Education and educate the youth through rock culture. Rock Ed is a ten-year series of alternative education projects via music, the arts, poetry, sports, photography, fashion, graphic design, literature, new approaches to science, film, cultural studies, theatre, dance, and any other way except being in a classroom. ↩
- Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia makes a wide range of mobile devices and provides people with experiences in music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games and business mobility through these devices. Nokia also provides equipment, solutions and services for communications networks. ↩
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