Soul Music

Report: Shaunnagh O'Loughlin
Photography: Melissa Di Ciero and Greg Ford

A Monash University project is giving hope to hundreds of orphans in war-torn Afghanistan. In a country where music is considered food for the soul, children will be taught music to improve their life chances and revive fading traditions.

There are an estimated two million orphans in Afghanistan and countless more children scarred by almost 30 years of war. They are children who have seen their parents and siblings killed, their homes destroyed and experienced hunger and humiliation.

Thirteen year old Ahmad Zia is the sole provider for his family. He started working in Kabul selling plastic bags, now he spruiks the arrival and departure of local buses on the city's crowded streets.

But a pilot project, designed and developed at the Monash Asia Institute, will see a vocational music school established in Kabul, which could create a new future for Ahmad and about 300 orphans and underprivileged children.

Dr Ahmad Sarmast

The vocational music school is just one aspect of the Revival of Afghan Music project (ROAM), the brainchild of Monash academic Dr Ahmad Sarmast, a native of Afghanistan and son of the late Afghan composer, conductor and musician, Ustad Sarmast.

With the support of Monash Asia Institute, Monash School of Music-Conservatorium, and the Monash Science Centre, he has completed a report on the current state of music in Afghanistan and the role of music in various aspects of life and society.

"Music is an important part of social and cultural life in Afghanistan. Afghani people believe music is food for the soul," Dr Sarmast said. "But traditional music has suffered over the last 30 years from a combination of factors including Taliban rule, civil war and migration."

The ROAM pilot project has won the favour of the Afghanistan Minister for Education Mohammad Hanif Atmar who has set aside land for the new school as well as committed funding for the renovation and refurbishment of a temporary music school at the former Kabul School of Fine Arts.

Dr Sarmast has been appointed by the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan as the in-country director of a project to reestablish music education in Kabul in line with the ROAM pilot project. He is currently in Afghanistan overseeing the rebuilding of vocational music education.

"The school is the first element of our overall project. It aims to make music accessible to orphans while providing them with a secondary education, which is vital in a country where there are limited employment opportunities."

Dr Sarmast said the revival of music in Afghanistan had been severely hampered by a long history of musical destruction and the invasion of Bollywood and Indian pop music.

"There is also a lack of infrastructure and facilities to support and encourage professional musicians. The Afghan people want to listen to their own music; they want to have their own musical voice," Dr Sarmast said.

He hoped the school would produce professional musicians trained in both traditional and Western methods.

"We hope this will lead to the creation of new Afghan music and encourage the development of the Afghan music industry," Dr Sarmast said.

"I also see potential for music to contribute to the sustainability of the nation's economy through exporting music and exposure to traditional instruments.

That's why there's a need for this kind of education and a coherent plan for the sustainable revival of music.

"This project is the first of its kind to give a voice to Afghan music and help rebuild the tradition. It could become a model for the entire country."

Back on the streets, Ahmad Zia said life didn't have much meaning before he found music. He looks forward to learning at the new Vocational School of Music and dreams of becoming a professional musician. "Music can make my life," he said.

Visit the Friends of ROAM website.