A Picnic in Our Park.

Last Sunday Refilwe hosted a fundraising picnic for the Bel Canto Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus. The Orchestra Chorus comes from Soweto and was created by a man who is incredible passionate about sharing his love of music with others. He has found the Orchestra Chorus is a unique opportunity to expose many young people in Johannesburg (as well as all over the country) to that particular form of music. The Orchestra is made up of musicians of varying age, background and talent and is providing meaningful growth and experiences for many who participate. The Orchestra is completely non-profit; it relies on concert sales and donations to keep it going, so Refilwe agreed to host a picnic by our river. The above photo gives you an idea of what the 'picnic grounds' look like!

One of the main aims of the Orchestra Chorus is to reach schools and other places where there are groups of young people and help to start concert bands, choruses and orchestras. It is a completely different form of community development than what Refilwe does, however it employs many of the same theories: by giving young people the opportunity to explore talents and gifts they may never have realised before, these musical groups may touch and even change lives.

 The BCP Orchestra Chorus played for almost 5 hours while many people came, picnicked, enjoyed the sunshine and enjoyed the music. Many of the Refilwe families took the opportunity to bring their picnic rug and the kids and enjoy a relaxing afternoon. I was one of the designated photographers of the day; below are some of the pics I snapped of a couple of our families.