- [Elizabeth] Music is really, really, really powerful
in itself, and in what it can do for you outside of music.
(vibrant string music)
- [Narrator] Korogocho is one of the largest
slum neighborhoods in Nairobi, Kenya,
but do to extreme poverty, there's limited access
to youth arts programs.
Since 2008, a community program called Ghetto Classics
has been trying to change that.
(clarinet playing)
- My name is Elizabeth Njoroge,
and I'm the founder and director
of the Ghetto Classics program.
Ghetto Classics is a program
that started off here in Karogocho.
It's about using music to change the lives
of young Kenyans,
and, in particular, those from very difficult environments
and backgrounds and lives.
(recorder tooting)
Korogocho is hard, but we hope that in our space
we are creating a better Korogocho.
(lively orchestral music)
We teach 600 kids a week.
We have violins, one viola, the cellos.
We have flute, clarinets, saxophones,
tubas, trombones, trumpets.
We only got French horns the other day,
which is very exciting.
We see that the discipline that comes with the kind of music
that we teach, in this case classical music,
um, is something very important for these kids,
because it's something they may lack at home.
So they play together, make music together,
that gives them family.
(saxophone plays)
The lives of the kids are just so, so, so difficult.
The challenges they face.
They've been crushed by life,
having, you know, no hope when everybody around you
is just fighting to survive.
So we hope that in our space, we're creating a place
where dreams can be nourished and can grow and be fulfilled.
(gentle music)