Amsterdam's Vossius Gymnasium's Winter Concert was all about ‘Beating Malaria’

What started for Ayelet Karo and Gossa Lô as a profile assignment on malaria ended as a Winter Concert for the benefit of Malaria No More! Netherlands. On the evening of Tuesday, 7 December 2010, dozens of talented music students at Amsterdam's Vossius Gymnasium put on a fantastic performance.

For the general science part of the assignment, the sixth grade pupils Ayelet and Gossa came up with the idea of organizing a concert to raise money for a charity that mainly focuses on fighting malaria in one way or another. Because organizing a charity concert would take up a lot of time that Ayelet and Gossa didn't have, they thought of linking the ‘fund raising’ part to the Winter Concert that takes place every year at the school just before Christmas. They searched the web for a charity that fights malaria and liked Malaria No More! Netherlands. The 2010 Winter Concert was given the name 'Beat Malaria'.

The 250 concert tickets were soon sold out and the students played their music and sang their songs to a full theatre. Arjen Meeuwissen and Tobias Wormhoudt presented all of the pieces in a lively and entertaining manner. Students in the 1st to 6th grades played or sang some 16 numbers ranging from classical pieces such as ‘Overture Lo Speziale’ by Joseph Haydn and ‘Rondo – Sonate in D maj’ by Ludwig van Beethoven to ‘Nine Million Bicycles’ by Katie Melua and ‘Christmas is all around’ from the film ‘Love Actually’. The students at Amsterdam's Vossium Gynmasium sure are talented! This great musical and vocal talent was expressed so well largely thanks to the music teachers, Joppi Tiersma and Zoe Bailleux, who produced and supervised the concert.

Shortly before the break, Ayelet Karo and Gossa Lô explained why the theme ‘Beat Malaria’ had been chosen, talked about the good cause the Winter Concert was dedicated to and explained what the proceeds would be used for. The proceeds will be go to the project ‘Fight Malaria in Shibinga (West Kenya)’ that is co-run by Malaria No More! Netherlands and Wilde Ganzen, which means that Wilde Ganzen will be augmenting the amount raised. Ayelet and Gossa appealed to the visitors to buy drawings and visit the Malaria No More! information stand and make a donation during the break.

At the end of the evening, Ayelet and Gossa announced the proceeds and presented a cheque to Diederik Slot, director of Malaria No More! The Winter Concert raised € 1,201, which, after being augmented by Wilde Ganzen, will amount to the proud sum of € 1,858.

Ayelet and Gossa, students and teachers of the Vossius Gymnasium, and everyone who came to the concert: Asante Sana! A great big thanks for your contribution to the fight against malaria.