Project Launch:

Project Upbeat provided weekly music lessons to a group of aspiring musicians from the community of Batey Libertad in the Dominican Republic. Participating youth had the opportunity to learn to play guitar, drums and/or keyboard and also were taught to write, arrange, produce and perform their own music. With a $500 grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program, a stereo system, guitar, and USB hook-up were purchased that allowed participants to record, playback, and create music, with the USB hook-up helping bypass the disadvantage of having no computers or internet access in the community. The grant also supported the production of a CD, which was sold to visiting student groups and other interested parties to raise money to support the program in the future. In lyrics-writing workshops, youth were taught to turn their experiences of growing up in the Batey into fuel for positive change in their communities. The community benefited directly from this youth development program which kept these adolescents creatively engaged and away from negative influences they might have otherwise encountered, gave the participants important mentoring, and used music to showcase their talent, intelligence and capabilities.