2007/2008 Asia Benefit Tour Phang Nga/Mae Sot, Thailand
2007 Music Workshop at Pestalozzi Kinder- und Jugenddorf Wahlwies, Germany
2007 'All together for our children' European tour
2007 Kanu O Ka'Aina New Century Public Charter School Waimea, Hawaii
2006 'La Otra Campaña' Tijuana, Mexico
2005 'Eyes Wide Open' San Francisco, USA
2004 XV International AIDS Conference Thailand
2003 UN Reconciliation Concerts Mitrovica, Kosovo
December 07/January 08 - Asia Benefit Tour - Phang Nga, Thailand
Saphan Jai Festival Concert, Khao Lak Youth Center
The audience included 600 migrant worker and Thai children, adults from the local community and a smaller number of tourists.
The energy from The Durgas’ performance of original rock music vibrated through the audience in a wave of joy that transcended language. Lead singer Benjii Simmersbach is a magnet for children; a big group of boys and girls joined him on stage to rock and unleash their voices at the microphone, repeating the readily learned single word refrain of a harmonic gypsy ballad - “Milo” as the audience sang back in time. In a peak moment of musical power that only great live performances can evoke, Benji jumped off the stage into a shrieking audience and got the crowd on their feet to dance and clap along to a reggae based song about universal love.
Thailand’s nationally famous band, Nga Caravan, founders of the Songs for Life movement entertained the crowds with their signature style of Esarn-influenced folk music speaking to social issues that affect the common man. The beloved Nga Caravan delivered a moving repertoire of signature songs and newer pieces backed by a remarkable performance of lead guitar played by his 12-year old son. Ajarn Kraisak graced the crowd with one solo, singing from the heart about the plight of the poor. The Durgas and a group of children joined Nga Caravan on stage for a finale.
A video team from the Phuket Aquarium produced a short documentary about the opening of the exhibition and concert on 30 December.
Community Performances by The Durgas 26-29 December
In Phang Nga province, an estimated 16,000 Burmese migrants work on rubber plantations, in the fishing industry and on construction sites. Most of these migrants are ethnic Mon and Tavoyan from Mon state across the Andaman Sea on the east coast of Burma.
The Durgas arrived to Phang Nga on 26 December and performed a series of informal concerts in the lead up to the main concert. The four member band traveled to migrant worker camps, learning centers for children of migrant workers and the Duang Prateep foundation where the played songs and involved children in singing and dancing. These shows were a unique chance for Burmese migrants to enjoy live entertainment.
The friendly warmth The Durgas exude wherever they go immediately draws in the audience as if they’re gathering a circle of old friends. As migrant workers finished their baths in open-air wells after a day’s work on construction sites, the muddied alleyways linking cobbled shacks housing hundreds of migrant workers were transformed into an openair theater. Migrant families circled around the Durgas in dirt clearings that transformed into an intimate stage as they belted out rock from a makeshift sound system and a microphone held together with a bamboo pole while Burmese children and danced in the center.
The masterful percussion from Rainer, smooth bass back up from Murray, and crafted rock guitar from Christopher created a rich canvas for the raspy-voiced original lyrics by lead singer Benji, evoking messages of peace and social justice based on respect and love. GHRE was the main NGO partner sponsoring The Durgas visit to Phang Nga.
Jeanne Hallacy
Executive Producer Insight-Out!
Performances by The Durgas Phang Nga 26 –30 December
- 26 Dec Migrant Workers Camp, Rubber Plantation Khuk Khak
- 26 Dec Tsunami Anniversary Day Khao Lak Beach
- 27 Dec Khuraburi Learning Center located one hour north of Khao Lak in a large migrant worker community
- 28 Dec Ban Niang Learning Center, operated by the Burmese NGO Foundation for Education and Development (FED) school for 50 children of migrant workers
- 28 Dec Duang Prateep Foundation Bangsak, a center for tsunami affected and low income Thai children
- 28 Dec Foundation for Education and Development (FED) New Year’s party, Khuk Keuk beach
- 29 Dec Migrant Workers Camp, Rubber Plantation Ton Ka Min
- 29 Dec Happy Snapper Bar Khao Lak, with former Senator and nationally respected Thai human rights activist Kraisak Choonhavan
December 07/January 08 - Asia Benefit Tour - Mae Sot, Thailand
Reaching Migrant Children and Promoting their Rights through Songs
At the beginning of this year, the Cross-border Project supported InSight Out, a creative project for
migrant children, in hosting the Durgas, a band from
Germany, to perform six mini concerts to migrant children at learning centres, schools and clinic along the border of Thailand and Myanmar in Tak province. Their concert is a part of “Make it Happen” campaign that brought them to many countries in Asia to promote the healing forces of music to children. The performance of the Durgas brought joy to the children although they could not speak the same language. The trip of the Durgas served as Save the Children’s entry point into this new target province of the project. Through the concert, Save the Children was able to get in touch with community groups and organisations in the area who are potential partners and targets for the child protection programme. Mae Sod in Tak province is home to thousands of Burmese refugees and undocumented migrants and for many years had been one of the main entry routes for trafficked persons.
Ratirose Supaporn
Save The Children UK
Background on Burma
Since 1962, Burma has suffered under one of the world’s most infamous military regimes. The junta is now known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Burma, once the region’s prosperous rice bowl of Asia, is now one of the poorest countries in the region. Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is the only Nobel peace laureate in the world in detention.
The junta’s gross human rights abuses such as forced labor, forced relocation, systematic rape and military operations in ethnic areas has resulted in 140,000 ethnic refugees living in camps along the Thailand-Burma border, in addition to an estimated 1.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) hiding in the jungle and the detention of more than 1000 political prisoners.
Burma’s political and economic crisis catalyzed a mass exodus of migrant workers to neighboring Thailand. An estimated 1 million migrant workers from Burma survive on subsistence wages working in the “Three D’s” (Deadly, Dirty and Dangerous) industries that no Thai workers dare to do. These are the fisheries industry, working on agricultural plantations and construction sites. The migrant workers are stateless and often face human rights abuses by Thai authorities and businessmen who exploit them.
In Phang Nga province alone, approximately 16,000 migrants work on the massive rubber plantations and fishing industry in the coastal communities as well as on construction sites building luxury resorts for tourists.
The children of migrant workers are not allowed to attend Thai schools.
They are not afforded basic rights for health care or education. Tens of thousands of migrant children are illiterate and many of them work as child laborers with their families. The Foundation for Education and Development (FED) a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) founded by former democracy leader Ko Htoo Chit operates five informal learning centers for over 500 migrant children in Phang Nga.
These alternative schools are their only hope for basic education, for many of the students, it is their first time to sit in a classroom. The learning centers teach Thai and Burmese language and math and provide a school lunch program which for many is their most nutritious meal of the day.
Thai provincial authorities imposed martial law in the province to control the growing migrant population. This decree prohibits them from gathering in groups of five or more, owning a mobile phone, riding a motorbike or going outside their camps after dark. Most of the migrants in Phang Nga are ethnic Mon and Tavoyan from Mon state which is across the Andaman Sea on the east coast of Burma.
Jeanne Hallacy
Executive Producer/ Insight-Out!
June 07 - Music Workshop at Pestalozzi Kinder- und Jugenddorf - Wahlwies, Germany
Der Tribe, der Clan, die Gruppe, der Kreis, der Zyklus - die Energie der Vereinigung Aller zu einem Ganzen war die Basis für die Idee, den Workshop der DURGAS mit 17 Kindern und Jugendlichen aus dem Pestalozzi Kinder- und Jugenddorf als basale, als elementare Urform des Dialogs zwischen Menschen mittels Musik anzulegen.
Eine Band, die die Weltkugel mehrfach umrundet hat, begab sich in einen Kreis mit jungen Menschen, deren noch kleine Welt durch diesen Kontakt wuchs und an Dimension gewann. Jeder dieser Menschen war gleichermaßen Teil des Gesamten und füllt einen Platz darin.
Drei Tage gemeinsamer Musik zu je vier Stunden und ein abschließendes Konzert brachte im Resultat eine so große Vertrautheit hervor, dass die Zuschauer in großer Ergriffenheit Teil eines Ganzen wurden - auch sie waren im Kreis um die Musiker zum Kreis geworden.
Die jungen Musiker strahlten Zentriertheit und Präsenz, eine unspektakuläre und authentische Teilhabe am gemeinsamen Stück aus, dass hierdurch weitaus mehr als Musik selbst transportiert und erlebbar wurde.
Keine Vorgaben - es fand kein Einordnen statt, kein Flankieren engte den ersten Impuls der Kinder ein - ES fand sich ein Beat, der alle führte und die Achse im Entstehen des Stückes bildete.
Jeder der Musiker/innen konnte einen Beitrag bringen - immer wieder durchlief der Kreis jeden Teil des Ganzen und in jeder Runde konnte ein neuer Einstieg, eine neue Idee probiert und Altes wieder fallen gelassen werden. Wie in einer sich regenerierenden DNA bildete sich mit der Zeit eine Struktur um die zentrale rhythmische Figur, jeder Part fand seinen Platz und doch war der Ablauf immer neu, jedes Hineinfinden provozierte neue Antworten der anderen Instrumentalisten.
Beziehung zueinander zu finden ist die Basis für Wahrnehmung, Austausch, Achtsamkeit und Begegnung. Das ist das über die Musik hinausgehende, durch die Musik entstandene Erlebnis dieses WORKSHOPS.
THE DURGAS verkšrpern diese Art Beziehung untereinander in der Band und zum Publikum seit vielen Jahren - jetzt erweitern sie durch den DURGAS WORKSHOP ihre Interaktivität und ihren Anspruch an die heilende Kraft von Musik im Bereich der direkt erlebbaren, unmittelbaren Erfahrung mit den so schwingungsbereiten und offenen Kindern.
Ein Gesamtwerk von Kunst und Musik formt einen biographischen Pfeiler für jedes der teilnehmenden Kinder. Teil einer Doku dieses jedes Mal einzigartigen Workshops auf einer DVD mit der Entstehung und Einbindung in das große Gemeinsame zu sein, wird zu einem Teil der Identität der Kinder und einem intensiv erlebten Pool ihrer Erfahrungen.
Verbunden sein mit anderen Menschen ist Sinn und Maxime dieses Projekte
Thomas Hahn - Pestalozzi Kinder- und Jugenddorf, 22.07.2007
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May/June/July 07 - 'All together for our children' - European tour
The future belongs to the children of the world - children are our future!
Yet we must recognize children are also the most vulnerable members of our global community. This is true for all countries regardless of the nation's economic status.
All together for our children: The Durgas have dedicated their European tour to the foundation WeltKinderLachen (World' Children Laughing). They will head out under the banner: "For a child's laugh in the world", taking the message on their journey through Germany, Belgium France, Italy, Austria and Hungary.
WeltKinderLachen Foundation advocates for the world's children. Its pupose is to bring children happines, to help them develop their own projects and realize their self set goals. Most important is the community spirit of the children and to further awareness of nature and environment.
Benjii and Christopher Simmersbach spent many years of their childhood in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.They witnessed firsthand the far reaching effects of poverty and AIDS, of unknown diseases and misery. Their parents were involved in international organizations, developing nutritional programs and building schools throughout the world, always with an emphasis on working together with the local community.
The Durgas continue to participate in international forums and events that help understanding the needs of today's children around the globe. With their performances and music, The Durgas hope to continue, pro-actively, towards working for a better world for everyone, especially our world' s children.
Come see The Durgas perform! Afterwards we invite you to share your feelings on our website: What impact did The Durgas have on you? We want to hear your voices about what moved you, what you felt and thought in response to their performance and music. Your statements will be posted on the WeltKinderLachen homepage and you too will contribute to spreading the message for our children's future!
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January 07 - Kanu O Ka'Aina New Century Public Charter School - Waimea, Hawaii
During our tour in Hawaii we had the privilege to play a show at the Kanu O Ka’Aina School in Waimea, Big Island. Having had the opportunity to watch one of the school’s performances in 2002, which was one of the most exciting school performances we’ve ever seen, we immediately contacted the school to see if they would be interested if we’d come by and play an impromptu concert as our way to say thank you, albeit five years later.
Kanu o ka'Aina New Century Public Charter School (KANU) opened in August 2000 in Waimea on the Island of Hawaii. As Hawaii's first native designed and controlled public charter school, KANU is based on over a decade of indigenous action research, integrating native values and traditions with the latest in 21st century educational technology. KANU is designed to provide a culturally-driven, academically rigorous
choice in public education to children from K-12 and involves families and communities at a very high level. The vision of KANU is to expand our quality K-12, standards-driven charter school into a comprehensive Native Hawaiian learning center or kauhale, which addresses the educational and cultural needs of our community from the womb to the tomb. As a Hawaiian-focused model of education, guided by a philosophy of excellence, KANU has become a beacon of hope for those who believe that education can be both academically rigorous and culturally-driven, allowing students to walk comfortably in two worlds.
The show was an exchange of greetings and performances. Before our set, the school presented us with their welcoming Aloha spirit, covering us with beautiful Leis, after which they proceeded to line up in front of us to give us a welcoming chant. Wow! The powerful spirit of such a welcoming call was overwhelming! It’s hard to even put it into words…just imagine a whole school, teachers and pupils alike, chanting for you, inviting you into their world…a truly overwhelming, powerful collective act of generosity! After our concert, they gathered together again, and in a collective circle, all of us together, presented us with a final chant of thanks. We were speechless…The Aloha spirit of Kanu O Ka’Aina has filled our bodies….Mahalo!
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September 06 - 'La Otra Campaña' - Tijuana, Mexico
The organizations, groups, collectives and individuals from both sides of the US-Mexico border who are part of the National Campaign with the Other Politics for a National Program of Leftist Struggle and for a New Constitution (The Other Campaign), call to friends and adherents and sympathizers of the 6th Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, to workers, youth, indigenous, those in social struggle, intellectuals, artists and all those out there who identify with struggles from the left and from below to participate in the First Cross-Border Encuentro, taking place in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, on the 15, 16 and 17 of September, 2006.
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March 05 - 'Eyes Wide Open' - San Francisco, USA
Eyes Wide Open, the American Friends Service Committee’s widely-acclaimed exhibition on the human cost of the Iraq War, features a pair of boots honoring each U.S. military casualty, a field of shoes and a Wall of Remembrance to memorialize the Iraqis killed in the conflict, and a multimedia display exploring the history, cost and consequences of the war. Benjii was invited to perform some songs at the event held at the Civic Center in San Francisco 2005. "It was one of the most touching performances I've ever done. Just looking out to a crowd of over a thousand boots and knowing what they represented was heart breaking, yet I was glad to sing for peace and justice."
July 04 - XV International AIDS Conference - Thailand
The Durgas performed as featured musicians invited by the Silabha Cultural Program during the XV International AIDS Conference held in Bangkok in July 2004. Attended by 19,000 delegates, the conference is the premiere gathering of world leaders, scientists, academics, policy-makers and activists in the AIDS world.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan gave the keynote address at the opening and former South African President Nelson Mandela gave a moving closing address.
This showcase of artists from around the world included musicians, performance artists, visual artists, dance troupes and filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America and Europe.
The Silabha Cultural Program, a groundbreaking event organized for the first time during an international AIDS Conference, gave a creative and humanitarian face to the AIDS crisis through the vision of international artists and engaged community groups gathered from around the world.
Silabha brought together 196 artists from across the globe. The Durgas performed their original rock music and also accompanied Mun Awng, Burma's most famous singer whose voice is a symbol for the democracy movement in exile and Nana Bugyei, a celebrated Ghanaian singer.
The Durgas Thailand performances:
Com.passion Concert, Goethe Institute
Lido Theater, 2004 AIDS Film Festival
Scala Theater, gala opening of 2004 AIDS Film Festival opened by Richard Gere and renowned Thai Senator Mechai
Hualompong Railway Station, public concert
AfricAsia Concert, Lumpini Hall
Global Village Closing Ceremony, XV International AIDS Conference
Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand
Mercy Center AIDS Hospice
Refugee Orphans School, Mae Sot, Thailand-Burma border
All Burma Student Democratic Front head office, Mae Sot
The Mercy Center Concert, endorsed by Nobel laureate and former President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel and Buddhist activist Richard Gere , was organized inside an AIDS hospice in Bangkok's largest slum community. The concert drew community leaders and hundreds of children and adults with AIDS and teenagers and former street kids living under the care of the center.
The AIDS kids opened the show with traditional Thai dance followed by juggling and acrobatics by youth from the Mercy Circus. Two Czech national opera stars performed with The Durgas, Nana Budgei, Mun Awng, Roland Lee and Julia Trybe. The Durgas's rock and roll got the kids dancing on their feet in frenzy of sheer joy and gave them a chance to be free of their illness. After the main show, Christopher and Benjii played for AIDS patients in the ward.
During the show at the Mae Sot School for ethnic Karen refugee children from Burma, The Durgas lead singer Benjii Simmersbach taught the children songs. The Durgas met leaders of Burma's democracy movement living in exile in Thailand including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, The Association for Assistance of Political Prisoners, Dr.Cynthia Maung of the Mae Sot Free Health Clinic and students .
The Durgas are organizing a return tour to Thailand in 2005 to play benefit concerts for refugees from Burma's military junta and rural children in Thailand. The concert series will be a creative collaboration with Mun Awng and musicians from Thailand. The concerts will take place in Mae Sot on the Thailand-Burma border in a Buddhist temple, in Dr. Cynthia's Clinic and in ethnic Karen refugee camps as well as in venues in Thailand's northern capital of Chiang Mai.
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April/June 03 - UN Reconciliation Concerts - Mitrovica, Kosovo
In 2003, the UN invited our band called A Drastic Measure - we have since changed the name to The Durgas - to play a series of concerts in Mitrovica, as an attempt to reconcile Albanian and Serb Kosovo.
The first series of concerts were staged at the main Auditorium on the "Albanian side" of the river, right adjacent to the infamous bridge. The UN set up a "protective corridor" that enabled the Serb Kosovans to come over the bridge securely and enter through a different entrance into the main hall. Once in the hall, both ethnicities met up.
Naturally the tensions were high at first, but as soon as the performances started, we witnessed old neighbours and friends, having been separated only due to their ethnicity, meet for the first time since the war. It was truly amazing!
The second series of concerts were a few months later, only this time the UN organised the concerts without the theatre group, and added two Finnish bands, instead. They set up a stage right on the bridge of Mitrovica itself, with the Albanian Kosovans arriving to the concerts from one side and the Serb Kosovans from the other.
As soon as the concerts started, both sides met up and again the same positive feelings rippled through the crowds. After the end of all concerts, we were told by UN workers that it was the first time they had witnessed such immediate positive results, although they emphasised that they had been quite unsure of what the outcome would be like, initially.
To see so many Albanian Kosovans and Serbian Kosovans dance and laugh together had been "amazing" and a "first" for such a big group of people (1,500-2,000).
During both our weekly stays in Mitrovica, we also played at the Black Lady, a music bar situated on the Serbian side, and frequented only by Serb Kosovan and military personnel stationed in Kosovo as part of Nato's K-For peacekeeping force. Although we tried hard to encourage Albanian Kosovans to join us, only one dared to do so, the others feeling that the risk of a confrontation was too high.
Naturally, we will always remember this experience, and the courageous people we met. The general feeling was a strong desire for peace and as soon as possible!
Christopher Simmersbach for BBC News - Memories of Kosovo
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