NIU Steelpan scholars appeal for funds

 Trinidad & Tobago Guardian

From left:   Jalen Charles, Joshua Bedeau and Rashunda Dorset-Headley

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”

That quote by Scottish writer and poet Robert Louis Stevenson is posted on the crowdfunding donor wall [JJR Steelpan Relief Fund] of three T&T scholars, at Northern Illinois University (NIU) Joshua Bedeau, Jalen Charles and Rashunda Dorset-Headley, who are desperately trying to raise funds to cover their tuition.

All three are pursuing degrees with specialisation in steelpan performance at NIU.

...the trio, who are in their first semester has already racked up late-payment fees and are struggling to raise US$10,000 to cover health insurance, living expenses and other costs for the two-year programme.

....The steelpan studies programme at NIU, which attracts students from across the globe, was created by the late G Allan O’Connor, who in 1973 [was] the first person to establish an actively performing steelband in an American university.

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