The project in summary

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

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.
  • 192 kids (5-18 ages) and 18 students (19-26 ages) in Skaramagkas Refugee Camp;
  • 74 kids (5-18 ages) in Eleonas Refugee Camp;
  • 12 students (14-25 ages) participating to the Young Leaders Programme from Skaramagkas Refugee Camp and Eleonas Refugee Camp.

Between January-March 2020, El Sistema Greece (ESG), with Alta Mane support, offered 10 hours of music lessons per week (string and wind instruments, music theory) inside the Skaramagkas Refugee Camp for a total of 148 kids (5-18 ages) and 14 students (19-26 ages)

as well as 4 hours per week inside the Eleonas Refugee Camp for a total of 67 kids (5-18 ages). In parallel, inside both refugee camps, has activated the Young Leaders Programme, intended to allow more advanced music students inside the camps 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). During the COVID-19 lockdown (March-June 2020) in order to continue to give psychosocial support and offer music classes to youths located inside the camps during the global pandemic, ESG has launched a kind of 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 offering 201 hours of live classes, reaching a total of 124 kids and youths, of which 15 kids (9-15 ages) from Skaramagkas Refugee Camp and 7 kids (9-14 ages) from Eleonas Refugee Camp. In June 2020, ESG has reactivated all the music activities only inside Skaramagkas Refugee Camp offering a short series of 4 full days string instruments classes for 29 kids (9-18 ages) and 4 students (19-26 ages), as well as the last class of the YLP, after two months of virtual meetings. The physical encounter resulted in a very creative  musical statement, IMAGINE, the product of their reflections about solidarity and inclusion, inspired by the global #BlackLivesMatter movement.

El Sistema Greece (ESG): officially established as an NGO in 2018 but working in the field since November 2016, ESG is a community music project that provides free music education to children and young people in Greece. Inspired by the philosophy and innovative methodology of El Sistema Venezuela, El Sistema Greece offers free choir and ensemble instrument classes to children and youth from different background in Greece.