We, the PowerMinders are envisioned to establish a training avenue for self-reliance in the creation of entrepreneurial, innovative and sustainable businesses for youth in Vanuatu, the Pacific region and the world. is owned by 11 local Ni-Vanuatu musicians hailing from both the Gospel and Secure music industries and this is our story:
THE PM’s ULTIMATE DREAM (in 10 years) – assisted by SWP in Aus
tralia:
During our entire music careers as renowned local gospel artists and vocalists in Vanuatu, two of our most experienced PM Members (David & Blake) with the Monument Singers; have by far participated in approximately a hundred plus (100+) local music concerts of which 40% are staged national events and 10% are international appearances; in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Philippines, China and Italy. Currently, both lead vocalists with the Monument Singers, have hosted over fifty (50) major fundraiser concerts nationally and internationally; solely for building new church structures upon request and as stipulated in their five (5) years project plan. And from 2013 to date (within a span of only three years), they have raised over US$76,665 in cash donations toward the said projects in Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia. This has got us (PM members) thinking on the entire economic scale of the matter. We also realized that the rest of us have started our careers and vocal training from scratch; with even nothing close to acquiring any formal or academic certification in music, yet we have what it takes to become nationally recognized and admired local semi-professional vocalists/musicians in our own making through years of hard work, blood and sweat. Deriving from our fundraiser experiences through the years, THIS reality starts to take form in our minds – hence, the Australian Institute of Music (AIM) is the knife to unsheathe this DREAM for us and Vanuatu. Eventually determined, we sought to identify an ultimate means of aiding the entire under-employed youth population of Vanuatu establish livelihoods through the medium of MUSIC; career-wise, the music entertainment industry. This is going to be our ultimate project for Vanuatu with the youth as the main target economic group to engage and help grow their musical talents and business investments both nationally and internationally for the next thirty (30) years. Vanuatu has a total population of approximately 270,000 of which 70% are youth. And out of this entire population less than 40% are in the working class comprising of; Economists, accountants, teachers, lawyers, managers, engineers, architects, carpenters, builders, contractors, mechanics, electricians, medical practitioners, nurses, business owners, marketing personnel and the list goes on – apart from all these career fields, technically NOT ONE single Ni-Vanuatu (Vanuatu citizen) is a CERTIFIED MUSICIAN (PROFESSIONAL) to date…in other words, no one here in Vanuatu has ever taken up music to be his/her professional career field. In spite of this very reason, we are willing to go through blood and sweat by all means to get to AIM to acquire our Bachelor’s degrees in Contemporary Performance, followed by Master’s and Philosopher’s degrees in this specialized field God-willing; regardless of our current financial incapacity to adhere to the costliness of schooling in Australia. And we are determined to take on this challenge at this point because this has been our PASSION all along in our entire lives’ journey seeking purpose. We deliberately want to be the FIRST NI-VANUATU Honor students ever to graduate with Bachelor’s degrees in Music, particularly in contemporary performance; eventually leading on to doing our Master’s degrees and PhDs should circumstances permit. THE PM’s ULTIMATE DREAM PROJECT (in 20 years) – assisted by SWP in Australia:
After accomplishing the first stage of our ultimate dream at the AIM, what we will implement for our beloved country is as follows;
• Establish International donor network for project implementation whilst in Australia for Vanuatu and the Pacific region
• Build a US$6 million worth of Music academy in Vanuatu with an adjoining five thousand capacity concert arena (auditorium), practice rooms, recording studios and instrumental labs fully furnished with the state-of-the-art music technology
• Upon the first four (4) operational years of the Music Complex, we’ll have at least seven (7) of the top graduates (from AIM) in our batch to join us teach music lessons on a contractual employment basis. The academy will enroll eligible intakes from all over the pacific region and the world at large – especially for international students who are seeking to study music in a beautiful offshore island setting
• Subsequent to the four years of contracted employment, the 7 lecturers would have taught and certified the next 7 eligible local graduates to take on the trade while they return back to Australia
• Even so, the Music concert arena will draw thousands to its semi-monthly world-class concerts featuring both local and international artists; as its main income generating medium
• Ultimately, the arena itself will be capacitated enough to host world-class musical events like; The Voice, The Sing-offs, The X-Factor, The Pacific Idol, The Asia-Pacific Idol – in the Pacific region, especially in a small island nation – generating more funds into the Youth Department and the other related social sectors of Vanuatu
• The academy will be a franchise of the AIM music curriculum in Vanuatu, the dream gateway for future local music students/graduates to get out of Vanuatu to Australia and abroad as professional musicians creating satisfying and rewarding livelihoods out of their love for music
This is OUR DREAM…and it will worth more than the whole world sharing it with AIM! In a nutshell, this is how the PowerMinders team perceives what economic independence is supposed to look and feel like to the current and vibrant youth groups here in Vanuatu; and the generations to come. Our engaging the SWP in Australia will capacitate our knowledge and firsthand experience enough in; time management, budget management, people networking, smart team work and capacity-building. Having engaged the SWP would see the team utilize the knowledge learned to create and sustain innovative, entrepreneurial and lucrative youth livelihood projects for concerned groups; for maximized economic impact in Vanuatu.
