Lutaaya’s trumpet attracts kids off the street
May 29, 2008
THE trumpets, tubas, slide trombones and the deep thumps of the drums can be heard before you can even see the African Hearts Royale Band rehearsing. <br>In an empty lot, across the street from the organisation headquarters in Bakuli, the boys practise for upcoming performances.
Some Ugandans are tackling community problems in spheres such as education, health, youth, agriculture, technology, women and children’s rights and other social projects. Abdul Lutaaya, a student, is one of the people The New Vision readers identified.
By Angela Hill
THE trumpets, tubas, slide trombones and the deep thumps of the drums can be heard before you can even see the African Hearts Royale Band rehearsing.
In an empty lot, across the street from the organisation headquarters in Bakuli, the boys practise for upcoming performances.
The neighbours gather to watch, and occasionally boda boda riders from the stage come for the free show. There aren’t enough instruments to go around, so the older, more experienced players help the younger and newer members to practice. And a bucket of soapy water to clean mouth-pieces sits ready so performers can switch instruments at a moments’ notice.
Abdul Lutaaya, affectionately reffered to as Abby by all who know him, is the driving force behind the organisation that not only gets children off the street, and into school, but teaches them a skill they can use to raise funds for themselves.
“The trumpet changed my life, so I am using it to reach out to the needy,†Lutaaya, 27, says.
Since African Hearts brass band was started in 2001, Lutaaya has been using the trumpet, trombone and tuba to change the lives of others. The band has 62 members, 16 of whom live in the organisation’s headquarters. In a garage and small room at the back of a house, the boys live, study, and store their instruments.
Lutaaya says they are very blessed to be sheltered by the family which gives them that space and also lets the boys use their front room. They can have room to spread out when revising for school or relaxing.
Bbosa Rashid, 15, joined the band in 2005 because he was interested in the band’s music. “I had a friend in the organisation and he used to tell me stories about their music,†he says.
Rashid said his family did not have enough money to keep him in school, so when he met Lutaaya, he asked to join the band, for a place to stay and for an education.
Three years later, Rashid is working hard to pass S.2 at Nakasero Secondary School and has not willingly missed a class since he joined the school.
“I don’t skip,†he says, “I don’t even want to skip.â€
Rashid stays at the house, waking up early to study before school, coming home to practise when school ends, then revising in the evening. He says Lutaaya is like a father to him. He feels like he can do anything.
The organisation performs an important function in the community — keeping kids straight. “Today young children like me beat people and do a lot of crimes or are on the street, but we are not. We have hope and we are faithful that we will do what Abby is doing,†he says.
Sandra Asiimwe, 19, who resides in the house that the African Hearts use as their headquarters, also says she believes the organisation keeps these boys out of trouble.
It takes a lot of money to take care of Rashid and the other boys. Lutaaya wants to admit more boys but is already looking for more people to support the ever growing need for school fees and supplies, uniforms, medical bills, food, and other costs.
“I have the passion, but I don’t have the ability to support them all,†he says. His passion comes from a background similar to many of the boys. He was raised by his grandmother since he was six months old.
He spent time on the streets before finding the Boys and Girls Brigade where he learnt to play the trumpet. Currently, Lutaaya is studying social work and while he looks for donors to support the boys, he is able to help them in other ways.
He acts as a liaison between the boys that still live at the headquaters and their parents. He also gives the boys someone to trust, who, for many of them, is very difficult to find.
Lutaaya says one of the boys was rejected by his mother, and beaten so badly that the neighbour intervened. He was taken to a government home where he was again abused and mistreated, so he ran away.
Having nowhere to go, he ended up on the streets, until he met the African Hearts band. “It is hard for him to trust, so I am open with him. I show him that I love him,†says Lutaaya.
Outside of the music and playing at functions nearly every weekend, being a member of the African Hearts presents the boys opportunities not usually available to the youth in their position.
Some of the boys who did not do well in school and can no longer attend, are beginning vocational training. There are mechanics and tailors in the making and as soon as Lutaaya receives the funds, two of the boys are going to a driving school.
Other members of African Hearts were trained in arts and crafts making, and others still in poultry-keeping.
Another important aspect to the organisation is religion.
The only night the band does not practise is Tuesday, when there is a Bible study session. God plays an important role in Lutaaya’s life, so he shares this with the boys in the group.
“It is easier to give someone hope if you point them to God,†he says. “If these people have a good relationship with God, then discipline and other things will come.â€
Asiimwe says she believes having religion as a central idea to the organisation is important.
“I like the idea that they are not only getting them off the street and going to school but introducing them to Christianity.â€
She says being one of the three women living in a house with 16 boys, with nearly 50 others that come through every day is “kind of overwhelming,†at times. But, she says, it is like having brothers.
“They are a form of security, no one ever bothers to steal from here.†Asiimwe adds that she enjoys watching the progress they make with their music.
They have a talent of playing without reading music, like most musicians; instead they can listen to a piece a couple of times then play it. She is also impressed at how well the boys work together and care for one another like a family.
“Sometimes I ask myself if these were really once street children because they do not act like street kids, they are completely reformed,†she says.
All this change she attributes to Lutaaya and three other adult volunteer leaders. “Usually whoever gets money only thinks of pocketing it, but these four leaders use their little money, and still put all their time and effort into the boys.
Lutaaya is also looking ahead to the future. He wants to expand, and recently purchased property in Wakiso district, where they are slowly having an 18-bed dormitory, kitchen and dining room constructed.
“My goal is to get more kids off the street,†he says. But not just boys, in the future Lutaaya wants to teach girls music as a way of helping them. He said he knows how girls are so vulnerable on the street.
The only reason the organisation does not currently incorporate women is Lutaaya thinks it would be difficult to have boys and girls together in the tiny space where they are currently operating.
In the end he wants to provide the roots that are so important in Ugandan culture.
“We want to have a place that the kids can call home, and trace their heritage starting from there,†he says.
Name: Abdul Lutaaya
Project: African Hearts Brass Band
In his words “The trumpet changed my life, so I am using it to reach out to the needy.â€
Contact:
Office: Rubaga Road, opposite Winners Chapel, Kampala
Tel: 0752636241
E-mail: afrihco@gmail.com
Other responsibilities:
Social Worker
By Angela Hill
THE trumpets, tubas, slide trombones and the deep thumps of the drums can be heard before you can even see the African Hearts Royale Band rehearsing.
In an empty lot, across the street from the organisation headquarters in Bakuli, the boys practise for upcoming performances.
The neighbours gather to watch, and occasionally boda boda riders from the stage come for the free show. There aren’t enough instruments to go around, so the older, more experienced players help the younger and newer members to practice. And a bucket of soapy water to clean mouth-pieces sits ready so performers can switch instruments at a moments’ notice.
Abdul Lutaaya, affectionately reffered to as Abby by all who know him, is the driving force behind the organisation that not only gets children off the street, and into school, but teaches them a skill they can use to raise funds for themselves.
“The trumpet changed my life, so I am using it to reach out to the needy,†Lutaaya, 27, says.
Since African Hearts brass band was started in 2001, Lutaaya has been using the trumpet, trombone and tuba to change the lives of others. The band has 62 members, 16 of whom live in the organisation’s headquarters. In a garage and small room at the back of a house, the boys live, study, and store their instruments.
Lutaaya says they are very blessed to be sheltered by the family which gives them that space and also lets the boys use their front room. They can have room to spread out when revising for school or relaxing.
Bbosa Rashid, 15, joined the band in 2005 because he was interested in the band’s music. “I had a friend in the organisation and he used to tell me stories about their music,†he says.
Rashid said his family did not have enough money to keep him in school, so when he met Lutaaya, he asked to join the band, for a place to stay and for an education.
Three years later, Rashid is working hard to pass S.2 at Nakasero Secondary School and has not willingly missed a class since he joined the school.
“I don’t skip,†he says, “I don’t even want to skip.â€
Rashid stays at the house, waking up early to study before school, coming home to practise when school ends, then revising in the evening. He says Lutaaya is like a father to him. He feels like he can do anything.
The organisation performs an important function in the community — keeping kids straight. “Today young children like me beat people and do a lot of crimes or are on the street, but we are not. We have hope and we are faithful that we will do what Abby is doing,†he says.
Sandra Asiimwe, 19, who resides in the house that the African Hearts use as their headquarters, also says she believes the organisation keeps these boys out of trouble.
It takes a lot of money to take care of Rashid and the other boys. Lutaaya wants to admit more boys but is already looking for more people to support the ever growing need for school fees and supplies, uniforms, medical bills, food, and other costs.
“I have the passion, but I don’t have the ability to support them all,†he says. His passion comes from a background similar to many of the boys. He was raised by his grandmother since he was six months old.
He spent time on the streets before finding the Boys and Girls Brigade where he learnt to play the trumpet. Currently, Lutaaya is studying social work and while he looks for donors to support the boys, he is able to help them in other ways.
He acts as a liaison between the boys that still live at the headquaters and their parents. He also gives the boys someone to trust, who, for many of them, is very difficult to find.
Lutaaya says one of the boys was rejected by his mother, and beaten so badly that the neighbour intervened. He was taken to a government home where he was again abused and mistreated, so he ran away.
Having nowhere to go, he ended up on the streets, until he met the African Hearts band. “It is hard for him to trust, so I am open with him. I show him that I love him,†says Lutaaya.
Outside of the music and playing at functions nearly every weekend, being a member of the African Hearts presents the boys opportunities not usually available to the youth in their position.
Some of the boys who did not do well in school and can no longer attend, are beginning vocational training. There are mechanics and tailors in the making and as soon as Lutaaya receives the funds, two of the boys are going to a driving school.
Other members of African Hearts were trained in arts and crafts making, and others still in poultry-keeping.
Another important aspect to the organisation is religion.
The only night the band does not practise is Tuesday, when there is a Bible study session. God plays an important role in Lutaaya’s life, so he shares this with the boys in the group.
“It is easier to give someone hope if you point them to God,†he says. “If these people have a good relationship with God, then discipline and other things will come.â€
Asiimwe says she believes having religion as a central idea to the organisation is important.
“I like the idea that they are not only getting them off the street and going to school but introducing them to Christianity.â€
She says being one of the three women living in a house with 16 boys, with nearly 50 others that come through every day is “kind of overwhelming,†at times. But, she says, it is like having brothers.
“They are a form of security, no one ever bothers to steal from here.†Asiimwe adds that she enjoys watching the progress they make with their music.
They have a talent of playing without reading music, like most musicians; instead they can listen to a piece a couple of times then play it. She is also impressed at how well the boys work together and care for one another like a family.
“Sometimes I ask myself if these were really once street children because they do not act like street kids, they are completely reformed,†she says.
All this change she attributes to Lutaaya and three other adult volunteer leaders. “Usually whoever gets money only thinks of pocketing it, but these four leaders use their little money, and still put all their time and effort into the boys.
Lutaaya is also looking ahead to the future. He wants to expand, and recently purchased property in Wakiso district, where they are slowly having an 18-bed dormitory, kitchen and dining room constructed.
“My goal is to get more kids off the street,†he says. But not just boys, in the future Lutaaya wants to teach girls music as a way of helping them. He said he knows how girls are so vulnerable on the street.
The only reason the organisation does not currently incorporate women is Lutaaya thinks it would be difficult to have boys and girls together in the tiny space where they are currently operating.
In the end he wants to provide the roots that are so important in Ugandan culture.
“We want to have a place that the kids can call home, and trace their heritage starting from there,†he says.
Name: Abdul Lutaaya
Project: African Hearts Brass Band
In his words “The trumpet changed my life, so I am using it to reach out to the needy.â€
Contact:
Office: Rubaga Road, opposite Winners Chapel, Kampala
Tel: 0752636241
E-mail: afrihco@gmail.com
Other responsibilities:
Social Worker