Youth from low-income households will be coming to Carleton next month to participate in Rise & Flow, a free summer day camp geared towards empowering kids by teaching them musical skills.
After starting out in 2008 with only $5,000 from grants and sponsors, Rise and Flow is now gearing up for greater success in its second year. The program has received a grant from Telus Mobility and, according to co-founder Bruce Kyereh-Addo, lots of positive feedback in the community after being featured in Metro newspaper. The number of youth that will be attending the camp has also increased from last year.
Jarratt Best and Kyereh-Addo are Carleton students who created the program in 2008 to help fill a need they saw in the community. As childhood friends who grew up in low-income families themselves, Best and Kyereh-Addo created the camp with their own backgrounds in mind.
Through their efforts with Rise & Flow, they said they hope to help kids who are struggling to overcome encounters with drugs, violence and gangs in their communities. “The ultimate goal is to see kids coming out of the program with empowerment,” said Kyereh-Addo.
By including music in the program, they aim to give kids a safe and constructive means of self-expression. The two key aspects of the camp’s name, Rise & Flow, refer to the desire to instill kids with both self-esteem and musical skills. According to Kyereh-Addo music is a particularly effective way of facilitating growth and empowerment in kids by giving them a voice.
“When kids use music, they are able to express some of the difficulties that are going on in their lives. It’s a way in which they feel more comfortable expressing themselves,” he said.
As well as teaching musical skills, Best and Kyereh-Addo have also started two sub-program initiatives called WeQuality and YouthVironment. The programs are aimed at teaching youth about gender equality and caring for the environment, respectively.
According to Kyereh-Addo, Carleton has played a major role in supporting the camp. The university has provided an academic presence through staff members who encourage the kids and provide inspiration to come to university in the future.
On top of this, Carleton has backed the program financially, contributing about half of the total amount needed last year.