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In the summer of 2006 we started an exchange project with the Fanfakids and the Twerammpon Traditionals from Ghana. With the help of the Ministry of the Flemish Community , the Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie (Commission of Flemish Community in Brussels) and the community of Molenbeek we were able to ground a project of annual exchange. In 2006 the Fanfakids went to Ghana, in 2007 the Twerammpon Traditionals came to Belgium and in 2008 the Fanfakids will go back there but they’ll also go to Togo and Benin. The funds never cover the entire expenses, and we’re never certain that we can count on them every year.

The Fanfakids is the most familiar and most noticeable of those projects. Led by a professional percussionist from “Met-X vzw” they learn different rythms, mainly based on South-American and African music. They perform during many streetfestivals or other festivals in Brussels, Belgium and even outside of Belgium.

The group also attracts children from outside of the neighborhood. Children from all over Brussels join the Fanfakids by which we get a beautiful social mixture of the Brussels’ youth ,all coming from Flemish-speaking schools. Since many children from the neighborhood don’t speak Dutch properly, this is a very accurate method to give attention to the development of their knowledge of the Dutch language. This way, children with a limited knowledge of the Dutch language are able to communicate with children who already have an extensive knowledge of the language. This helps them to improve their language skills.

It concerns children with a variety of social and cultural backgrounds. To keep Brussels livable, people should get acquainted with each others background, and Fanfakids helps to achieve this goal.

The Twerammpon traditionals is a cultural group from Cape Coast, a coastal town from Ghana. It was grounded in 1982 to maintain the traditional African music and dance. They mainly focus on the socially vulnerable children and offer them meaningful, interesting recreation for after school. They’re thaught about the traditional culture: music, dance, story-telling, poems, drama etc... The members of the band are also being encouraged in their studies. They’re even being motivated to pay for their schoolbills in case the parents aren’t able to pay for them or in case he/she has no parents anymore.

3. The project: “ Ghanian rythms on the drums from Brussels”, music as a way of communication between youth with different backgrounds.

This project is an exchangeproject between both groups; children with a different but also an equal background. The Fanfakids are mainly from Molenbeek and other Brussels’ communities. Children from this area are often being described negatively in the media (hanging about, being involved in criminality, doing drugs...). African children are stereotyped as poor and starving and living in war-areas. We won’t deny these problems, but we also want to put the positive sides of both groups in the spotlight. By showing their talents to a wide audience, they contribute to this. It also helps them to boost their self image and it’s an encouragement for their development. They participate in the cultural life of their own country, or even another country, get to know other cultural actors and people with different cultural backgrounds. Some kids seldom get out of their own community or village and by touring with their group they get to know a whole new, bigger world. Instead of focussing us on their problems, we focus on their talents to boost their selfconfidence. Children of both groups learn a lot from eachother. They get familiar with each others’ rythms and dances. We work, if possible, with hostfamilies so the children really get to know the culture. The Brussels’ youth often quit school prematurely but they notice that their Ghanian friends will do anything to go to school. Some even have to work for it (in the morning they go to school, in the afternoon they sell bread to earn some extra money so they can pay schoolbills). The children become close friends and mutual solidarity goes hand in hand with that. Once the children get older they can voluntarely work for the other organisation for a while, even for a year if they want, to help each other, but also to get to know eachothers’ culture, the different methodologies of both organisations and the other country. They can transfer this to the younger kids of their own group who also, can be set to work as a volunteer once they get older.

The expansion of a durable coöperation between both groups.
In both cases we’re dealing with multitalented children who want to show what they can do to the outside world. Both groups are being portrayed negatively by the media. This is because the Brussels’ youth is often being linked with criminality, unemployment etc... and African children are being stereotyped as starving, growing up in war-area’s... However, because of the media-attention we get and the many performances we can show everywhere, the positive sides of both groups are also being put in the spotlight. The result of the coöperation makes it all worthwhile to invest in.
The children learn from eachother, close friendships are being founded, they get to know different cultures etc... They already explored eachtothers’ country, now we’re also going to the surrounding countries Togo and Benin, where we also have contacted people to work out a program.
Prejudices, that are present in both groups, but also the rest of the society, are being eliminated. The image that Europe has about Africa is an image of poverty, hunger and violence. Unfortunately, racism still exists, also in Molenbeek. In Africa they belive that Europe is the land of milk and honey, but by staying here for a month, that image is also being nuanced. This project contributes in the elimination of prejudices who are present inside the group but also outside, in the rest of our audience that we reach.
The diversity of Fanfakids is expanding. Originally, it was a group with mainly children with Moroccan roots but now they have evolved gradually to a more mixed group. The children of Molenbeek as well as the the children outside of Molenbeek are now being reached, that’s a must for both groups. They’re often living in totally different neighbourhoods, all in Brussels, and they’re frightened of eachother or have prejudices about one another. Also because of this project children of outside Molenbeek are being attracted to the Fanfakids what leads to a healthier mixture. At this time it’s a mixture of children whit Moroccan, Pakistanian, Ghanian, Togolese, Flemish, Dutch or just Brussels’ roots.
The Fanfakids also learn by travelling under difficult circumstances what it is like to survive with not much and yet be happy. During our trip, we don’t have to live like many Ghanian people have to live in order to survive: our children don’t have to worry whether there’s going to be food on the table, if they’re going to have a place to sleep etc... but we do travel ‘African-style’, with old minivans or on foot. A few kids, who are already ready, go and live in a host-family, the family of their friends. It’s at that moment they realise under which circumstances their friends have to grow up. This becomes an experience that will last them forever. Because, to be frankly, our socalled underprivileged children are very spoiled in comparison with their African friends. Our children need that realization to succeed in life. They learn to persevere if they want to acheeve something and to be satisfied with not much or nothing.
Creating, solidarity between youth from Brussels and youth from Ghana. We hope that, through these experiences, the children will engage themselves more for eachother or for their friends who live 5000 km from here. At this time, they’re still young but a few of them are becoming teenagers, and so they can already take on some commitments. Some already do this by teaching rythms to the young kids who also want to become a Fanfakid, but this certainly may be intensified. All too often kids get things without even making an effort for them. But to acheeve something in real life, they will have to learn to work for it. It’s important that they develop this consciousness already at a young age. They will also notice that some kids in Ghana aren’t able to go to school because they have to work far a lousy couple of eurocents a day. Hopefully, their motivation to go to school and to do well is being stimulated.
To expand the mutual repertoire, so they can offer a more variated program. We show this result in Europe and Africa. It’s a coöperation based on equality, so the European as well as the African people should be reached.
Visiting the project Sankofa Mbofra Fie and doing some activities in this project, that has been founded in 2006 by David Kwesi Acquah with the help of Centrum West in Eguafo, a little town in the West of Cape Coast. A post-project has been founded with some kids of this project. Here, we’ll perform at least one time, do some playful activities and learn something more about conditions of life in this environment, because country-life is totally different in comparison with the city-life. The people of this village have practically nothing so we also try to collect some usefull stuff to hand over to the leader of the project.
Motivating other organisations from Brussels and Flanders to work together or to start up similar projects in the futur. At the presentation of this project, it seems there is a lot of interest but, because it takes a lot of time and money, other organisations don’t come around to start up similar projects. With our experience, we definately want to participate in similar projects. In 2007 Fabota, a children’s organization from Louvain and Chiro Leefdaal ( youth-movement) were already being concerned actively in this project during one or several days. The support the government gives has to be divided so all organisations in Brussels and Flanders can benefit from it. With an eye on the future, we want to expand this, also towards other organisations. We also noticed that there’s an intrest for a similar project in our circus-workshop. For this purpose, we already contacted a youth-organization in Guinée who are also learning circustechnics to children.
To keep reaching the teenagers. Since a year or 2 we’re succeeding in keeping the teenagers in Fanfakids. Before that, children always dropped out once they went to secundary school. We know from some kids that this project is an important reason or even the main reason to stay in Fanfakids. Teenagers are difficult to reach, especially in quarters like “Zwarte Vijvers” and when the project is artistically-minded, demands commitment and is something where their friends have no intrest in or even making fun of...it’s difficult to keep them in the group.
Parents are a target group who are difficult to reach, but we notice more willingness to be a part of something when it’s an ambitious project like this. It unites parents with different backgrounds.

We try to do everything as cheap as possible, we don’t make luxurious trips and we try working together with hostfamilies or we spend our nights in cheap hotels. We’re also helping with the construction of a building in Ghana which the group can use and where we can spend our nights, where we can cook etc... any time we visit them. It’s a project with children, so we have to be considerate of the hygienic circumstances they have to stay in. Of course the Ghanians benefit a lot from this. They also get to live in a safer, cleaner environment (clean sanitary, running water, mosquito-nets in the building...).

Yet it stays an expensive project, often impossible to pay for the parents of our target group. Obviously, the price of the plain tickets is our biggest expense, but also their visum, anti-malaria-medication, transport, nourishment and stay aren’t free. The Ghanian government doesn’t hand out grant programs for cultural projects, the children and their parents are already happy when there’s food on the table every day, so money for this project has to come from over here. Until now we’ve been able to count on funds in Brussels and Flanders, but the government demands to look out for our own income or sponsors to keep maintaining this project.

We’re talking about an amount of € 20.000-30.000 we annually have to gather. With our European performances, we’re able to earn an extra income but in Africa, we always perform for free and we even have to spend some money for publicity etc...

All donations are welcome on account number 068-2067077-34 of vzw Centrum West (don’t forget to mention “FANFAKIDS”). Individuals that want their name mentioned on our site, let us know by mail.

In Belgium you can get a tax certificate for gifts from 30 euro’s a year or more. Therefore you transfer your gift on following account-number: 000-0906242-68 from FCJMP 1000 Brussels : you mention: "CENTRUMWEST/FANFAKIDS". Your name and address should be mentioned too.

We are grateful to anyone for their intrest in this project and for possible small or larger amounts.

Fanfakids from Brussels are

looking for sponsors.