A Safe Space for kids making music in Colombia

AFRONAUT MARCH 2023 FUNDRAISER

Help "Casa del Sol Community Center" provide a safe space & instruments for children learning traditional Cumbia music in Palomino, Colombia!

During my recent Feb 2023 tour in Colombia, I visited the beautiful Caribbean-coastal town of Palomino, where our group participated in a musical exchange with a children's art program called, "Casa del Sol Community Center".

Casa del Sol Community Center (Espacio Comunitario Casa del Sol) is a music & dance program that works with youth in Palomino's low-income community. The program teaches kids about the traditional Afro-Caribbean music & dances of their culture & heritage while providing opportunities for growth and development through education and experiences including live performances and travel.

During our visit, the staff and students gifted us with a special performance of traditional Cumbia music and taught us about the unique instruments including the tambor drums. The students are so talented, and it was truly inspiring to see young musicians learning with so much love and passion. Our band was extremely grateful to be able to share our music as well. We performed some of our original songs and I got to share my rapping and do a DJ presentation and workshop with the students. It was a truly joyous experience, and we even ordered all of the students AFRONAUT hats which should be delivered in the next couple of weeks.

We are looking to raise $10,000 for these beautiful children to continue studying traditional Cumbia music and dance in a safe space!

The program's founder, a talented musician named, Zol Alvarez (pictured above) rescued the community center space (a small structure with a backyard patio and open lot) that was previously inhabited by drug dealers and used for micro-drug trafficking in the area. In January 2022, she began rehabbing the community center space by cleaning and painting the walls, renovating the structure with repairs, and removing large amounts of garbage. While they've made significant progress over the past year, there is still considerable work to be done, including big adaptations that need to be made to the building's infrastructure and foundation.

The community center resides directly next to a small community of 30 families living in homes built from plastic and cans that share characteristics and structural damage. However, the most vital and complex issues in the neighborhood arise from problems with the town's water system, which has led Zol and her team to search for alternative options for their program and a way to support the community.

PLEASE DONATE TO SUPPORT THIS PROGRAM & THESE STUDENTS!!!

Outside of those complex issues regarding the space, the program is also looking to raise money and collect donations for resources including, instruments and tools.

How will your donation help?

The wish list below includes items they are looking to receive or purchase in support of their program:

1. 1 Tank to store water

2. Installation of the elevated and mobile tank

3. 1 Electric pump to drive the water

4. Security cellar for instruments and material (door and window)

5. Mobile adaptation of a dry toilet and a shower

6. Mobile classroom with roof

7. 4 tables and 16 chairs

8. 1 Board

9. Didactic material (games, paper, paints, brushes, colors…)

10. 1 Furniture to store material

11. 4 Caribbean percussion sets with cases (Tambor Alegre, drum caller, tambora, maracas, tablitas, totuma)

12. 4 sets of female and male bagpipes with case

13. 1 chonta marimba

14. 4 Pacific percussion sets with case (Cununo Drum, Bombo Drum, Guasa)

15. 1 Pianos and/or MIDI controller keyboards

16. 3 Guitars

17. 1 Bass with amplifier

18. 1 Laptop

19. 1 Zoom microphone

20. 1 Sound card to record

21. 1 Condenser microphone

22. 1 Set of flat audio speakers

23. 1 Looper

Thank you so much for reading this post & supporting this cause! Please share with more people in your community if you can and keep in touch for more updates.

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