Keyboards and sax player Jamey Ferguson (left) leads Takoha Puoro, a music programme that helps to re-engage Fairfield College students with school. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Keyboards and sax player Jamey Ferguson (left) leads Takoha Puoro, a music programme that helps to re-engage Fairfield College students with school. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Jamey Ferguson, a former member of Hamilton reggae band Katchafire, is passing on his musical knowledge to a new generation as part of Fairfield College’s music programme Takoha Puoro.
Takoha Puoro (meaning gift of music), was established two years ago to help re-engage students with school and has seen the college’s music facility transform into a professional and inspiring place where the students feel they belong.
Jamey is now leading the programme and says it has helped students to see the value in their education and to work hard to achieve their goals.
“We show them stuff, [ask them] ‘What do you want to learn?’ ... We throw out little hooks like that and, eventually, we see them sitting down, slowly working through things. It’s painful, takes a lot of patience, but they get there.”
Jamey has over two decades of experience in the music industry and is known as a member of the popular reggae band Katchafire, with whom he has toured around the world and performed at some of the biggest music festivals.
However, he also has a close link to the Fairfield community and “the streets”.
“My nephew was killed just around the corner from here by a couple of Fairfield College students so, for me, it’s been healing coming back here and a true path of forgiveness. And showing ... that we can make a positive impact on our community.”
The students selected for the programme face challenging environments at home and in their personal lives.
Fairfield College, where Jamey Ferguson is helping students on the music programme Takoha Puoro. Photo / Herald on Sunday
“We ask the dean for the students with the biggest behaviour challenges and worst attendance,” Jamey says.
To him, the key is to build a relationship with them.
“It’s about ... building trust ... I know and understand how to build a connection with these students in a way that works for them because I have been through a lot of what they are experiencing. Sometimes they just need a safe place to be and go through what they are feeling.”
Through the programme, the students can start to explore music on their own terms and at their own speed, which eventually leads them to re-engaging with school.
“Takoha Puoro helps them see, ‘OK, I’m something valuable now, I can do all this’ ... ‘I need maths to work out how, I need English, I need all these other things and I need to learn how to get along with people’.”
Over the past two years, students progressed from novice players to top musicians, with some of them not believing they were talented at the start of the programme.
Former Fairfield College student and retired business owner John Cook has invested in the kaupapa of Takoha Puoro and says it is a testament to the power of community and the importance of investing in youth.
“The Fairfield music programme is an excellent example of how music can change lives,” Cook says.
The Waikato Wellbeing Project just launched a series called Lots of Little Fires and features Takoha Puoro in one of the episodes.
The Waikato Wellbeing Project is a regional initiative to achieve a more environmentally sustainable, prosperous and inclusive Waikato region by 2030.
