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    Dreams of Kirina

    Dreams of Kirina
    By: Mark Johnson

    Dreaming the dream of a better tomorrow through musical education may not always seem the sexiest way of bringing about a revolution. But as Mark Johnson¡¯s Playing For Change organization is aware, it can have the most longlasting, life-affirming of all radical results.

    When we think about the role of dreams in our lives, they serve as both the places we go when we shut our eyes as well as the hopes and aspirations we hold for the future of our loved ones and ourselves. Playing For Change began as a dream to create something that could be full of positivity and inspiration for the human race. We have found that music is the greatest tool on earth for us to achieve our vision of a better world for everyone.

    Playing For Change recently visited the village of Kirina, Mali, where we found the heart and soul of our dream in a place with music at its core.  Kirina is an ancient village with about 1,000 residents, all of who are descendents of musicians, many of them over 75 generations in the same spot. They have no running water or electricity, but enough soul to brighten all of humanity and bring a smile to our face. Kirina is also the home of the newest Playing For Change Music School. (Ecole de Musique de Kirina). When the villagers heard we where coming to visit them to discuss the idea for the new school, they told us they had dreamed we would come, and they are prepared to join us on our journey to preserve their past and create a brighter future together.

    We arrived in Kirina and were greeted with a musical parade and songs from the villagers. We gave gifts to the elders and were granted permission for the musicians to perform music for the village chief under the mango tree. I swear if ever humanity has shined a light it was on this day!! The elders from the village had donated land for us to build our new music school and this day was an opportunity to celebrate the great future we all share together.  In this very location we started the work on our newly finished PFC 2 CD/DVD ¡°Songs around the world¡±.  Deep in the heart of humanity we hear the words, ¡°Every little thing is gonna be alright¡±.  The more time I spend in Africa the more I believe the sentiment of these words.  I have never seen a place with more love and music than Africa and these are the two most likely things to inspire us to unite in a positive way as a human race.

    The music school in Kirina is now finished and educates hundreds of children in the village.  This is just the beginning.  Playing For Change is also working on music programs in Ghana, South Africa and Rwanda and our dream is to connect all the children around the world together so that we join hands in creating a better future, one heart and one song at a time. Together we can make dreams come true and we will always know that there is a place where music and inspiration are passed on from generation to generation for the betterment of all of humanity. In the great words of Willie Wonka, ¡°We are the dreamers of dreams, we are the music makers.¡±

    One Love, Mark Johnson

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