This month Zenze’s putting a spotlight on YONA (The Youth Orchestras of Namibia), a pioneer in honing the arts amongst young people in Namibia and a 2025 BEST OF NAM NOMINEE.
“There is a place where music plays, we call it home, they call it YONA” that’s the tagline you’ll find on the instagram page for the Youth Orchestras of Namibia, an organisation dedicated to changing the lives of young people with music.
Below is an Interview with Ronaldo Kandume, a violin teacher from the Program and member of the board of directors as well as Gretel Coetzee the Executive Director of the program. The following is a combination of responses from both of them.
What is YONA all about?
YONA started in 2017. Our goal was to provide constructive activities and to help give direction to those with talent but no financial means to pursue their dreams. The kids call it home. We have children from different environments, they get to come here in the afternoons, spend their afternoons here, learn musical instruments, music theory and social behaviour. Gondwana Caters has been providing the kids with sandwiches and apples, every single day. We make sure we keep it a safe space, no violence, drugs, crime, or anything like that. Call it a safe haven for children.
Children can start coming in from as early as 6 years of age and they can select from three categories for intakes; the fully funded, partially funded and a bursary which includes transportation money, instruments and meals. The majority are beneficiaries of the bursary. The children don’t have to know how to play an instrument or have one in mind, we will help them select one. We just ask them to remain consistent and responsible.
Impact Stories
One of the biggest would be the kids who travelled to the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival last year, it was partially funded by the National Arts Council of Namibia. For most of the kids, it was such an impactful occasion because it was something we all never imagined would happen. Going to a different country to play music was amazing enough, flying just made it so much better, and it was the first time for a lot of kids. To top it off, the festival allowed the kids to play along with a lot of very talented musicians, especially in Stellenbosch, a great scene for art and classical music. There’s more specific stories, but in general, there’s a lot of good coming out of the program, like that a lot of kids learn well enough to start getting gigs and earning their own money.
YONA welcomes different forms of contributions including donations, collaborations and sponsorships.
To find out more about how you can get involved, please reach out;
Instagram: @youth_otchestras_of_namibia
Facebook : Youth Orchestras of Namibia
Email : administration@yonamibia.org
Website: http://www.yonamibia.org
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