This past weekend, a group of students accompanied by teachers at the Jacaranda School for Orphans embarked on a musical journey to Mangochi, Malawi, where the Jacaranda School Band was invited to perform at the country's largest festival, The Lake of Stars. Many international world music stars attended, and several of those very same artists fell in love with the Jacaranda School Band and asked our talented students to perform with them.

Nomfusi and the Lucky Charms, a South African band that opened up this year's World Cup, actually came to the Jacaranda School campus before the festival to give several workshops (compostition, keyboard, guitar, local drums and modern drums) and teach our students one of their songs called Nontsokolo which they performed together on the main stage at the festival, drawing huge applause.

Even the headlining act, The Noisettes, a highly successful pop band from the UK, invited our students to perform a song with them. Their version of "Don't Upset the Rhythm, Go Baby Go Baby Go" definitely got the crowd rocking.

Megastar and world music legend Oliver Mtukudkzi received an impromptu acapella song from our band after sharing a inspirational speech to our students on the beach of Lake Malawi.

But, the real gem of our weekend was the Jacaranda School Band's 1 hour set on Saturday in front of a large crowd, with the sun setting down on gorgeous Lake Malawi . All the songs were written and performed by our orphan band, which the students created themselves in only January of this year. In 10 months, our kids picked up donated instruments, learned how to play, composed their own original music, and then practiced and gave enough small concerts to be invited to play at Malawi's biggest music event.

It just shows how talented our orphan students are, and how if you give these children a chance, they will succeed.

It's safe to say that the Lake of Stars trip was a success on all fronts, from performing for hundreds of people to meeting inspirational artists to even being applauded by Malawi's Minister of Tourism!

The children had a great time when they were not practicing or performing, too. They enjoyed fun in the sun and sand, and notably, this trip marked the first time our students, who are all orphans, had ever had the opportunity to visit Malawi's famous Lake, the third largest in Africa, eighth in the world, only four hours away from Jacaranda School.

The trip was a real treat for everyone involved, and the Jacaranda name is heating up the music scene thanks to our awesome Jacaranda School Band, who definitely were Keeping the Fire Burning on stage and off it where they danced the night away...before curfew!


We would like to thank everyone who helped develop music at Jacaranda School and make this musical journey possible. All friends who donated instruments to our school, starting with Harlan Steinberger who gave a drum set and composer Rick Nowels who donated a keyboard. Both of them visited the Jacaranda School, spent time with the children and taught music, planting the seeds of our music program. Thank you to the Shanghai American School students who donated guitars. Thank you to all the German volunteers who helped put the band together and then supported and organized our June 2010 benefit concert, David, Jonas, Meryem and Johannes. Thank you to our teachers and staff for motivating and encouraging the children to develop their music skills, while at the same time constantly reminding them that education comes first!

Thank you to Lake of Stars organizers for including us in the festival line-up and welcoming us so well (Thank you Kimba!). Thank you to the artists, The Noisettes, Nomfusi, as well as Oliver Mtukudzi (Thank you to Rick Nowels for helping us meet and perform with the artists!). And thank you to the two companies which answered our call for help to make the trip to Lake of Stars a reality: International Commercial Bank, which made a donation to cover the food expenses and part of the accommodation; and Siku Transport, which provided transportation to half our group. We really appreciate all the help and support, as we wish to further develop music at Jacaranda School. Through music, our orphaned students have a chance to express themselves and find their voice. If you wish to join our musical journey, please make a donation here or send us an email for comments and suggestions. Thank you!