Project Overview:
PROJECT LAUNCH DATE: March 2008
COLLABORATING ORGANIZATION: Bequia Community High School
THE KIDS: 263 Teen Youth, a majority are boys, attend the school on this small island. This school takes all of the youth who are not able to go to more academic schools. Therefore, many of the teens can’t read, are very poor readers, and have low self-esteem.
THE PROJECT:
LEAF INTERNATIONAL is excited to collaborate with Bequia Community High School to start a MUSIC program that will promote the preservation of local steel pan drum music and culture and EMPOWER youth through music. This outreach program will reach hundreds of youth now and for years to come who would not otherwise have an opportunity to learn how to play the Steel Pans and who need positive enrichment.
Fun fact: Steelpan is the only acoustic instrument invented in the last 100 years.
PROJECT LAUNCH DATE: March 2008
COLLABORATING ORGANIZATION: Bequia Community High School
THE KIDS: 263 Teen Youth, a majority are boys, attend the school on this small island. This school takes all of the youth who are not able to go to more academic schools. Therefore, many of the teens can’t read, are very poor readers, and have low self-esteem.
THE PROJECT:
LEAF INTERNATIONAL is excited to collaborate with Bequia Community High School to start a MUSIC program that will promote the preservation of local steel pan drum music and culture and EMPOWER youth through music. This outreach program will reach hundreds of youth now and for years to come who would not otherwise have an opportunity to learn how to play the Steel Pans and who need positive enrichment.
Fun fact: Steelpan is the only acoustic instrument invented in the last 100 years.
The BIG LITTLE ISLAND! The tiny island of Bequia has a unique, magical charm which is
hard to find anywhere else in the Caribbean. With fewer than six thousand inhabitants, it feels
like home from the moment you arrive; friendliness is the watchword, and the pace is relaxed
and easy-going. Wonderful artists such as LD Lucy complement this creative island. Don't be
surprised if you are greeted with a warm hello as you walk along the street - a centuries-old
dependence on inter-island shipping and trading has meant that Bequians have been eagerly
welcoming visitors to their shores for generations. 
Bequia was the INSPIRATION to the whole concept of LEAF International. While visiting Bequia, one of
my favorite places in the world, I started thinking about HOW a person could give back while
vacationing and at the same time help get kids involved in their cultural music traditions. I went down
to the local community school, and the principal was kind to see me. I asked how many of the kids were
learning Steel Pan? (only one) Music in general? (very few) Then i asked if i was willing to donate PANS
and help connect them to two artists mentors would they be willing to have a Music Program start. (yes!)
Little did i know at the time, how expensive and complex Steel Pans are... I have so much more
appreciation for those fun Thursday night Jump Ups at the Frangipani. While ironically, Bequia is the
last of our first 5 prototypes to start, it has been the inspiration for the whole concept of LEAF International,
and hundreds of kids GLOBALLY are now learning music & working with mentors as a result of “Bequia”.
