MISSION STATEMENT
The Achimota Community Arts Project is committed to promoting traditional and other forms of African music by providing music development opportunities within the broader South African society. It does this through its performances and its teaching programmes particularly within communities who have poor access to resources. 

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
3.1 The objectives of the Organisation are:

1. To promote the appreciation and creation of traditional and modern music through performances and workshops in schools, local communities, at events and in corporate environments.  
2. To encourage the involvement and development of disadvantaged young people who do not have ready access to resources in music and dance programmes.
3. To ensure participants in Achimota activities have access to instruments through the production of marimbas and other instruments. 

3.2 The Organisation carries on activities that are of a benevolent nature, having regard to the needs, interests and well-being of the general public

The Achimota Community Arts Project (ACAP) in Orange Farm township, south of Johannesburg, has been in progress since the year 2000.
The project started off with Chapungu, a band run by Elias Tsvengurira- - who has since passed away - and was taken over by Mike Mbatha, who is still running it.
The children of Tshepane Primary School, situated near Mike’s house in Orange Farm, have been the primary beneficiaries of this training programme. They have been taught how to play marimbas and drums, as well as dancing and singing.
Tshepane bought a set of marimbas built by ACAP, and these are still currently in use. Members of ACAP train the kids on the marimbas at Mike’s house, in his yard. ACAP members are busy making more marimbas, to use at other schools.
ACAP was formerly made into an NGO or non-profit organization (NPO), with the help and guidance of Zaidee Harneker, in 2007. It has been registered with the Directorate of NPOs and now has the NPO number 057-204. A bank account in ACAP’s name has also been opened with Standard Bank, account number 2079-33103, Melville Branch.
Most of the income into this account has come from the adult band, Achimota, who play corporate gigs to support themselves and ACAP (they have no other income). The funds derived from these gigs are used to manufacture marimbas, purchase uniforms for the kids and finance transport for gigs that the Achimota Kids play at.
Two main aims or goals were set out at the formation of ACAP as an NPO. The first was to train children at schools, firstly in Orange Farm, and then beyond the township. It has not been easy to achieve this goal, because ACAP does not yet have its own set of marimbas (aside from a set kept in Johannesburg, which the adult band uses for gigs) and secondly, because the schools do not have a budget for the arts. Attempts to get parents to sponsor the training program have been unsuccessful, as most of the people in Orange Farm are unemployed or living on the breadline.
Applications to various funding institutions, such as the National Arts Council, have been made in this regard, since the inception of ACAP. Late in 2008 funding was finally received from the National Arts Council and from Hivos.
The second goal of ACAP is to place the children into a festival of the arts, where they will perform as musicians, dancers and actors. They will produce a play with a social message about Aids, drugs, or the importance of staying at school. This is also yet to come to fruition.
This is not to say that ACAP has been idle. The children attend marimba and dance classes regularly and have become highly skilled on their instruments, and as performers. They even compose their own songs! Their performance is extremely dynamic and they take obvious pride in their skill on their instruments.
Achimota Kids have performed at several local competitions and have won several awards for Tshepane. They have also played at the Alliance Francais, at Emmarentia Primary School in Johannesburg, and at Max Stubbe Waldorf school in Pretoria. This year, they also participated in the First National Bank Dance Umbrella contest. In July, the kids took part in the National Marimba Competition at St Dominics School. And over the last two years, the kids have played several times at Newtown Cultural Precinct, at the request of the Newtown Improvement District project.
A comprehensive photo album has been put together which has hundreds of photographs of the kids in action. Formal recommendations have been received from the Alliance Francais and from Max Stubbe Waldorf School.
The benefits of learning to play musical instruments and performing together as a group are manifold – the raising of self-esteem, increasing and developing motor skills, being provided with an alternative to joining gangs and hanging out on the street, learning to co-operate with a group, etc etc.
This is a highly worthwhile endeavor that has been in operation for almost a decade The training program is being expanded to other schools. Children are being trained as teachers, to pass on their skills to other kids. Achimota is determined to prevail!