By Patrick O'Brien | Director
Dear Friends and Donors,
Rock-Paper-Scissors Children’s Fund is almost 3 years old and it has only been possible with the support of our donors like you. For that we are extremely grateful. It is also very exciting to share with you the growth that our music program has taken since starting the small program only a few years ago.
When we began the Rock-Paper-Scissors Children’s Fund String Music program, we simply wanted to give kids, who otherwise would have no opportunity, the chance to learn and play the violin and cello. There was little thought to creating world-class musicians or a world-class orchestra. We only wanted kids to have a place to come together, build a strong loving community of peers, and have fun.
This past month, the Rock-Paper-Scissors Children’s Fund team returned to Viet Nam for our annual summer trip. Along with our founder Sara Nerone, her daughters, Phoebe and Sophie, and myself, seven volunteers from the United States made Cam Duc their home over the past month. They soon saw and felt what is so hard to describe to people once we are back home. Our students in the program are some of the most thoughtful, grateful, and fun kids you could ever meet. They have committed themselves to the program and each other, building the community we had always hoped for.
Three of our volunteers are formal music teachers in our local school system;Rozanne Fuller, Laurette Vitello, and Hannah Beekman who returned with us to Vietnam after spending last summer with us there. We also had four very talented High School student musicians with us. In the three short weeks they had to work with our students, it was amazing to see them assemble our students into a beautiful string ensemble.
To watch Rozanne, Laurette, Hannah and the students from the U.S. work with our Rock-Paper-Scissors students individually and in a large group first hand showed how not only important teaching the arts are to students, but how passionate and excited the teachers have to be to be teaching them.
All of our volunteer musicians were amazed at how dedicated our students were and how fast they learned new techniques. Just in 3 weeks, they were playing new music and together as a large ensemble. They loved it!
The last night we were in Cam Duc, the students’ parents and local officials were invited to our concert, and for the first time they were given the chance to witness the incredible skills their child has acquired by being in our program. Everyone was very proud and excited to see the kids perform!
Leaving Cam Duc is always bittersweet. But we are leaving the program in great hands. Our three excellent teachers are now each working with different groups of students varying in age and skill level. Building off of what the students have learned in the short time with the teachers from the United States, and new teaching philosophies for our Vietnamese instructors.
Each year moving forward we will add at least six new students to the program, and gradually increase the size as our violin teachers also continue to learn and take professional lessons in the city. We now look forward to a future where we see endless possibilities for the students, some even showing the signs of great musicians in the making. We know we will only see great things to come for them all.
Thank you for providing the kids with instruments, teachers and lessons, and most of all providing them with this wonderful opportunity to be creative through music!
Pat O’Brien
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