In August the new PULSE team from Norway – who will work in South Africa for a year – arrived in Johannesburg. After several weeks of preperation courses we finally got the chance to see what the Field Band Foundation (FBF) is all about!

On Friday the 28th of August we packed our bags and traveled to Northern Cape for the weekend to experience the launch of three new field bands in this region. The new field bands are situated in Phillipstown, Petrusville and Hanover. The FBF is able to start these new field bands because of generous donations from the Norwegian solar energy company, Scatec Solar.

The more experienced field band from the city of Kimberley organised street parades in all three towns, to show everyone how much joy and life a field band consists of and brings to the community. For us as a new PULSE team it was wonderful to see a field band in action and to experience how they interact with the local community in different towns . The streets were filled with music and people of all ages smiling, dancing and waving. We experienced this as a successful weekend and a positive way to present the Field Band Foundation to the communities.

PULSE will work closer with these and other field bands in Northern Cape from January 2016, and the focus will be on community as well as inclusion of people living with disabilities. The Northern Cape area especially has some challenges when it comes to alcohol abuse and addiction, and unfortunately many children are born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). The Field Band Foundation and PULSE want to include these children in the bands to show that we can all be stronger together.

Written by Solvor and Ingvill