A benefit performance by Kimo Hussey, a Hawaiian master of the ukulele, will help dirt-poor kids in Guatemala enjoy the rare treat of having ukes of their own to play.
“The luxury of an instrument is beyond their imagination,” said Gail MacDonald of Bellingham. “They’re lucky to have a bed of their own to sleep in.”
MacDonald and her husband, Patrick, are the link between Bellingham Ukulele Group, a local club, and Education and Hope, a nonprofit program in Guatemala.
Both MacDonalds love music and both are members of Bellingham Ukulele Group, popularly known as BUG.
The club began two years ago and now has about 80 people on its roster. Some 20 to 40 show up, ukuleles in hand, at monthly meetings September through May. When members decided to start a “ukes for kids” effort, they chose the Guatemalan children as their first beneficiaries.
“This is a really good group of people who enjoy making things happen,” said Aryn Whitewolf, a retired hypnotherapist from Ferndale and an early member of BUG.
The Central American uke connection dates back to the mid-90s, when the MacDonalds attended a Spanish-language school in Guatemala directed by Julie Coyne, a Connecticut woman who went to the country to improve her Spanish and stayed to improve the lives of its residents.
Coyne later founded Education and Hope, a program that helps poor kids attend private schools and runs an after-school center to improve their chances of academic success. The program is in Quetzaltenango, a city of about 150,000 in a mountain valley in the southwest wedge of the country.
The MacDonalds traveled there last year and spent about three months helping at the center. Patrick MacDonald, a retired carpenter, built and repaired items and taught woodworking to older students. Gail MacDonald, a retired teacher, helped kids with their homework and their English-language lessons. She took a ukulele with her on the trip.
“The kids kind of went crazy over it,” she said.
A ukulele offers them a positive, easy-to-learn way to express themselves, something rare for the impoverished and often-abused kids, Gail MacDonald said.
“Music through ukulele might provide some of these kids their voice and their passion,” she said. “They need to find joy and healing wherever they can.”
The MacDonalds hope to take about 20 ukes with them when they return to Guatemala this fall. They have about six donated ones, and proceeds from the concert will pay for more.
Some ukes likely will stay at the after-school center, and some will be given to children.
“There’s a couple of kids already that we know we’re going to give a uke to, because they fell in love with it,” said Patrick MacDonald.
Hussey, the Hawaiian master, agreed to turn his concert into a benefit after he learned about the “ukes for kids” idea, Whitewolf said. He’s paying his own travel expenses from Hawaii, will perform for a share of the gate, and plans to bring several handmade ukuleles to sell at discount, with part of those proceeds also going to the Guatemalan kids.
“He’s a very generous soul,” Whitewolf said.
BELLINGHAM UKULELE GROUP
What: Bellingham Ukulele Group hosts a workshop and concert by Hawaiian ukulele master Kimo Hussey. Proceeds will be used to buy ukuleles for poor children in Guatemala through the Education and Hope program.
When: Workshop on Hawaiian slack key ukulele is 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, 1708 I St. A concert follows 7 to 9 p.m. at the same location.
Tickets: Workshop: $10. Concert: $20 adults, $10 youths, free for kids under 8. People who attend both receive $5 discount. All tickets at the door.
Donate: To donate money and ukuleles for children in Guatemala, call Gail MacDonald, 733-6867.
Details: Bellingham Ukulele Group; 366-5660 or bhamuke.blogspot.com. Education and Hope; educationandhope.com. Kimo Hussey; kimohussey.com.
