What We Do

Music for Education

Mewsic Centers

Working hand in hand with Pratham, India’s leading Education NGO, Mewsic is establishing ‘Mewsic Centre’s’ in slums, villages and institutions across India. Already we have established 5 centers in four states reaching out to 500 children. These include 3 in Mumbai (Mankhurd, Govandi and Dharavi) along with one in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)

These Centre’s give children access to music, instruments and tuitions – making private tuition classes available for children in guitar, keyboard, vocals and dance, fostering the formation of music groups such as choirs, bands and folk dance.


  

Through a guided curriculum and group activities, children have the opportunity to learn, express themselves and grow as a person through music. This curriculum places a specific focus on literacy and numeracy, teaching children basics in English and Maths through music to support their formal classroom learning, and to instill knowledge among the children who are not at school.

The aim of the program is to use music as a tool for development – fostering self confidence, concentration levels and diligence, whilst also imbibing values, understanding and appreciation around the core themes of:
- Education – Numeracy & Literacy
- Personal Growth & Development
- Positive Behaviors & Relationships
- Dreams & Aspirations

Pratham has seen a radical difference in children’s performance at school through participation in the Mewsic formal music programs – through higher concentration, confidence and alertness in the classroom. Additionally there are documented case studies and evidence of reduced truancy, juvenile delinquency and enhanced behavior.

Case Study - Just 7months ago Prabu was a cheeky 10 year old who regularly bunked school and got up to mischief with his friends. With his home based in Dharavi, the biggest slum in Asia, Prabhu was not unlike other boys his age who club together and trawl the slum’s narrow alleyways in search of fun and laughter.
This was until he and his friends casually called into the new Mewsic Centre in their neighbourhood – thanks to Brett Lee. It was here that he first came to know what music is and learn instruments like keyboard and guitar. It was not long before he became hooked!

Today he is one of the brightest talents identified through the Mewsic India Foundation and is the most diligent and regular participant of the program. He has even started attending school regularly and, now that he has something


Finally, for those children who are not currently attending school, these centers act as a bridge between getting kids out of work (such as in factories, stone cutting and rag picking) and into school.

Rural Mewsic Camps

Working in collaboration with the Jaipur Virasat Foundation, the Rural Mewsic Camps in Rajasthan will see talented folk musicians across Rajasthan engaged and earning a livelihood, by tutoring up to 30 gifted children in music on a monthly, intensive camp basis over a 12month period.

This program will not only enable children to reap the benefits of music, but will ensure rare music forms are passed on to new generations, and that musicians can earn a livelihood from their art-form in their local area. Children will have the opportunity to grow through music and performance, enhance their education and learn a new skill that they can potentially earn a livelihood from in the future.

This program will foster excellence in the learning and preservation of Rajasthan folk music and 10 students will have the opportunity to become Mewsic Ambassadors, and achieve visibility on an internationally platform by attending a seven day music exchange in Australia, where they will showcase their skills to elite schools, audiences and on various media platforms.

The inaugural program will take place in Barmer, Rajasthan which is rich in musical heritage and features a variety of endangered folk music forms and instruments.

The Mewsic Bus

The Mewsic Bus program will fulfill Brett’s vision ‘that every child in India experiences, and benefits from the joy and power of music,’ and will cater to children and youth who dwell on the very fringes of society.

The Mewsic Bus is a tailor-made vehicle, furnished and equipped as a mobile Mewsic Center - delivering non-formal education to children on the streets of Indian cities, with a focus on literacy and numeracy.

Fully fit out and equipped with musical instruments, recording equipment, educational curriculum, games and a full time music tutor/ facilitator, the bus is a roaming centre that takes the necessary musical skills, resources and activities to help educate children in need through music.

The Mewsic Bus project will work with children in slums, on streets and in vulnerable communities where facilities are not available for running music programs. The program will engage children through music and expose them to preliminary education – acting as a bridge between the streets and school.

The Mewsic Bus program will start in Jaipur, Rajasthan and in Delhi, before expanding into other cities across India.