AGGâ€" A band with a mission

By Juliet NsiimaA German brass band known as the AAG Big Band was in Uganda for two weeks. The band members hailed from Alberecht Aefdorfer High School in Regensburg in the Bavarian province located in southern Germany. They are about 50 people in this band but 22 people, consisting of 19 teenagers and three guardians, came.The band’s purpose for coming was to hold concerts, hold workshops with Ugandan bands, interact with Ugandans that had never heard their music and to interact with German funded and /or affiliated NGOs. However, their charitable involvement in Uganda will be unforgettable.On March 29, the band’s charitable efforts began in Jinja town where they visited the First African Bicycle Information Office (FABIO) project. This project sells bicycles at subsidised rates to disadvantaged people like orphans and women. They held a concert and were warmly received, as the people there had never heard such music before. The band members later interacted with the benefactors of FABIO.Their second visit was to an orphanage known as St. Moses ChildCare Centre. It is a simple but well managed orphanage run by German lady married to a Ugandan known as Gabby Lubuyayi. In this orphanage, the orphans’ ages range from three months to 12 years. Nine children live in self-contained houses under a female guardian who doubles up as their mother. Gabby had organised for the band to play at the children’s Easter party. The children were very excited when the band members played for them and gave them gifts like toys and sweets. From Saturday, March 30 – Monday, April 1, 2002, the band performed at Murchison Falls. They were informed that they were the first band that has ever played there. Their audience included expatriates, locals and Congolese: a 200 strong capacity crowd. A fee of sh2,500 for locals and sh10,000 for expatriates was imposed. The benefits went to Murchison Falls Health Centre.On April 2, they travelled to the SOS Children’s Village, a bigger orphanage located in Kakiri, Wakiso District. One hundred and twenty-five children live in this orphanage ranging from the ages of three to 16 years. The band again played for the children’s Easter party.On April 3, the band performed at Luzira prison for male and female inmates serving light offences. The band members found out that the male inmates were the most receptive audience they had ever encountered. They were laughing, clapping and requested the band to play the piece, Oh! When The Saints Go Marchin’ In. The inmates’ favourite band member was the 14-year old drummer known as Tobias Reinsinger. They encouraged him to perform on his own. They then held a workshop with Prisons Band and were shocked to learn the prisons’ band members had to memorise their music as they had never taken music reading lessons. Bt the time this band left, they had enlightened and helped out two thousand Ugandans. The band members, in turn, fell in love with Ugandan weather and were greatly touched by Ugandan hospitality.ebds