The late Elspeth Jack first moved from Cape Town to the Napier district twenty years ago. Elspeth's keen interest in the local community and her desire to stimulate social upliftment left an indelible mark on her son Bruce, who continues her work through the HeadStart Trust - The Elspeth Jack Music Academy is established in her memory to provide music education opportunities and outreach programs for poor and needy children in impoverished, rural areas of South Africa.
Our rural areas in the Western Cape, are very short of positive stories. They lack government support, are under resourced, fractured and suffering. Incubators for hope and happiness are pitifully few and far between. It is our responsibility to do what we can to contribute to our community in Napier. Bruce's late mother, Elspeth, had a dream to establish a music academy in the Napier region. Elspeth was a much-loved music teacher and supported the overwhelming research that shows the positive.
Music gives these children the opportunity to access the potential they are capable of. And, despite the poverty, with music education we have seen that miracles are in fact possible. Music lessons allow these pupils to focus, behave, and value themselves. Music is becoming a possibility. It's bringing hope to the community. Teachers are noticing how the music lessons are contributing to reading, mathematics and general learning. Annual school attendance rates have increased from 78% to 95%.
While, we are starting in Napier with the Elspeth Jack Music Academy, our vision is to establish 25 music academies in the poorest rural communities in the next 50 years, along with vegetable gardens at these schools, since we are farmers and can given back to these communities in this way. Leaving a legacy of hope, creativity, imagination and success.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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