Hope Beats
Third World recorded their hit “Reggae Ambassador” in 1985; and for the past 10 years the band’s former drummer Willie Stewart has used his ambassadorial status to impart his musical passion among students throughout South Florida, where he has lived since 2000. Through an US$11,700 Broward County cultural grant program, 60 school children from Miramar, North Miami, participated in 16 sessions of Stewart’s Rhythms of Africa program from December 2009 to February 2010. Here, they learned to play drums and an array of percussion instruments from Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad and New Orleans, while becoming acquainted with indigenous beats from those territories. “It’s a lecture-concert-workshop; we play the modern rhythms from rap to reggae to soca and the students learn how Africa has influenced every form of music on the planet,” says Stewart who left Third World after 23 years to become a full time music teacher. “When you teach children drumming you are aiding in the development of their personalities,” says Stewart. “Drumming takes practice and helps them to concentrate as individuals and as a group, developing their listening skills and building a sense of team spirit.”

Urgent Need
Ziggy Marley’s U.R.G.E. (Unlimited Resources Giving Enlightenment) donates US$1 from each of his concert ticket sales towards the organization’s activities, which include extensive financial contributions to the Jamaica Environment Trust; monetary and supply donations to several Jamaican schools; and purchasing much needed medical equipment for the Surgical Ward and Burn Unit of the Bustamante Children’s Hospital and the Premature Nursery at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital, both based in Kingston.

Building Blocks
Furthering education in Jamaica by improving the conditions of schools on the island’s west coast, is Soul Rebellion, a charity founded in 2006 by New York born and raised Richard A. Sloan. It is comprised of two primary components: a series of fundraising reggae concerts held throughout March at Negril’s Jungle Nightclub, and the Buy-A-Brick programme, based at the Travellers Beach Resort, in association with the Negril Education Environment Trust (NEET). For just JA$100.00 (US$1.14) supporters can buy a brick or a cinder block and personalize it in any way they choose. Soul Rebellion uses those blocks to restore existing buildings or create entirely new structures for area schools.
St. Paul’s Primary School in Negril was the first beneficiary of the Buy-A-Brick program. In 2007 the school’s pit latrines were replaced with flush toilets and sinks with hot and cold running water. Buy-A-Brick funds were also used to provide six scholarships for older Negril area students, which facilitated their participation in various career-training programs. Soul Rebellion also assisted The Ferris School in Savannah La Mar with the completion of their snack shop, and in association with Stunners of the Month, a subscription sunglass company, they were able to secure several complete sets of math and English text books for community schools, which are worth an estimated US$40,000. Soul Rebellion 2010 will commence with a March 6 performance by Elephant Man and Shaggy, followed by a series of Tuesday night reggae concerts held throughout March at the Jungle.