The project in summary

Music activities for refugee and migrant minors located in the Skaramagkas and Eleonas Refugee Camps (Athens), and Korinthos.

The project in detail

To create occasions of integration and inclusion in refugee camps (Skaramagkas and Eleonas, Athens, Greece) through the practice of collective ensemble music. More specifically, this project aims to:

  • Heal the sufferings of the children who have been forced to flee from their homes and their countries giving them access to art and beauty;
  • Help refugee and migrant children to become valuable resources for their host communities and make them act as positive members of an open, multicultural and welcoming society;
  • Empower and give them the chance to acquire new artistic and educational tools and Life Skills, develop their talents and strive for a better future.
  • 285 kids (5-18 ages) and 18 students (19-26 ages) in Skaramagkas, Eleonas and Korinthos Refugee Sites;
  • 7 kids (9-11 ages) participating to music lessons in the premises of Elix organization;
  • 15 unaccompanied minors (7-18 ages) and 47 minors and youths on the move (4-22 ages) participating to music lessons in the Kipseli nucleo and the premises of Apostoli NGO;
  • 12 students (14-25 ages), located in the Skaramagkas and Eleonas Refugee Camp, participating to the Young Leaders Programme.

In 2020, El Sistema Greece (ESG), with Alta Mane support, in order to continue to offer, during the global pandemic, music classes to minors and youths in migration, continued to develop various musical activities in a dual mode, in presence and at distance, in compliance with the restrictions and sanitary measures adopted by the Greek government to contain and avoid the spread of COVID-19 in the country. During the year, ESG offered 10 hours of music lessons per week in presence (string and wind instruments, music theory) reaching a total of 332 kids and youths (4-22 ages) and 18 students (19-26 ages) in migration, of which 263 minors located in the Skaramagkas, Eleonas and Korinthos Refugee Sites. In parallel, has launched a virtual music school through the creation of an online platform and a full series of music curricula (string and wind instruments, music theory, percussions, choir), recording a total of 238 video classes and organizing 336 hours of online classes, reaching a total of 110 minors and youths on the move (4-26 ages), of which 41 located in the Skaramagkas, Eleonas and Korinthos Refugee Sites. At the same time, ESG activated the Young Leaders Programme (YLP), intended to allow more advanced music students to be trained in leadership and eventually become assistant teachers in the music tuition classes for beginners, reaching 12 students (14-25 ages) with different music backgrounds and nationalities (Greece, Syria, Afghanistan, RDC and Poland).
In 2021, ESG foresees to consolidate the current music theory and practice program for minors on the move located in the Skaramagkas Refugee Site and/or living in the neighborhoods of Kipseli and Apostoli (Athens), and to replicate it at the Conservatory of Korinthos so as to reach other groups of minors in transit located in the Korinthos Refugee Site.