THE GIFT OF MUSIC PROJECT

***NEWS FLASH!!!*** Our committee has voted to offer free admission to RBTR for all bona-fide refugees. Contact us on 0408 075 959 for more information.

Now, on to the GIFT OF MUSIC PROJECT...

Do you have any musical instruments laying around at home that you don't use anymore? Maybe you decided to give up the clarinet, or your little sister quit the violin after 3 years of lessons, or Nanna's gone to the nursing home and left her electric organ behind forever... or you've progressed so far in your career that you really don't play that 20 year old nylon string classical guitar much anymore?

If so, here's your chance to pull them out of the closet, get 'em out from under the bed, dust them off, and breathe new life into them by sharing the GIFT OF MUSIC with one of our recently-arrived refugees.

Any old, less-than-perfect, under-played, or otherwise lonely musical instruments can be provided to a motivated, musically-gifted refugee who has arrived here in Australia with nothing but the clothes on their back. So far, the Gift of Music Project has distributed over 100 instruments to individuals and refugee groups, including the Liberian Association and SALBAGO (the Sudanese Lost Boys And Girls Organisation.)

We may think being under-employed in the music industry is rough, but try watching your parents murdered in front of you, being chased and shot at by machine-guns from helicopters, walking 10,000 kilometres without shoes, or seeing your friends get attacked and eaten by lions and crocodiles... and then ending up starving under a blue plastic tarp on bare dirt in a refugee camp for ten years. That's a typical life story for most of the refugees we have assisted with instruments. 

Your generous gift of music transforms their lives...

 ...and gives them a way to make a living, too.

We live in a very prosperous society. We're truly "the lucky country" in this regard. Even if you're unemployed, it's likely that you've had a free high school education, good food in your belly, and a roof over your head. Can you share some of your prosperity? As a muso, the kindest and most generous way to do this (without emptying your wallet!)  is by sharing your old instruments.

We will be collecting any instruments you choose to share during Roots By The River -- just ask at the registration desk. Your currently-unplayed instrument is guaranteed to find a happy new home with a refugee!