Music Beats the Blues in Tunisian Youth Project

Students attend a music class financed by the after-school club Tunisia 88, at the Haffouz secondary school in Tunisia's northern Kairouan region on February 2, 2024. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)
Students attend a music class financed by the after-school club Tunisia 88, at the Haffouz secondary school in Tunisia's northern Kairouan region on February 2, 2024. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)
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Music Beats the Blues in Tunisian Youth Project

Students attend a music class financed by the after-school club Tunisia 88, at the Haffouz secondary school in Tunisia's northern Kairouan region on February 2, 2024. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)
Students attend a music class financed by the after-school club Tunisia 88, at the Haffouz secondary school in Tunisia's northern Kairouan region on February 2, 2024. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)

The Tunisian town of Haffouz lies in an impoverished region known for high rates of joblessness and suicide, but every Friday traditional music and techno beats lift spirits in a dilapidated classroom.

Local children and teenagers come together in the afternoon to compose and rehearse music for a creative break from their bleak surroundings in the dust bowl of central Tunisia, Agence France Presse reported.

"It's a place of escape and to free yourself from the stress of school, to compose songs, organize outings, take part in events," said the club's elected leader, Eya Makhloufi, 16, who plays the electric organ.

The after-school music club project is called Tunisia 88 -- a reference to the number of keys on a piano -- and aims to get youngsters to develop their creative and leadership skills, AFP said.

It has engaged 5,000 to 10,000 youths a year across Tunisia's almost 600 schools since it was founded in 2017 by US concert pianist Kimball Gallagher and Tunisian entrepreneur Radhi Meddeb.

Local clubs put on concerts and compete nationwide for the best song and best event, all entirely organized by the students.

"They do everything on their own," even looking for sponsors, said Rabaa Mwelhi, coordinator of Tunisia 88 clubs.

The goal, she said, "is not really music itself but that they work as a team, learn to manage everyday stress, and work within a limited deadline".

Gallagher, 43, said the clubs cater to young musicians but also those interested in graphic design, videography and public communication with venues and art centers.

Each club, he said, "is a protected space where young people can express themselves, make their voices heard and convey very interesting messages: extreme emotions, the fulfilment of women, the state of the country, their dreams, the environment".

"For us, a student is not an empty glass to be filled, but a seed that we plant and which will grow if we offer the right conditions," added Gallagher, whose project provides instruments, teachers and training in musical creativity and leadership skills.



Greece's 'Instagram Island' Santorini nears Saturation Point

Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
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Greece's 'Instagram Island' Santorini nears Saturation Point

Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP

One of the most enduring images of Greece's summer travel brand is the world-famous sunset on Santorini Island, framed by sea-blue church domes on a jagged cliff high above a volcanic caldera.
This scene has inspired millions of fridge magnets, posters, and souvenirs -- and now the queue to reach the viewing spot in the clifftop village of Oia can take more than 20 minutes, said AFP.
Santorini is a key stopover of the Greek cruise experience. But with parts of the island nearing saturation, officials are considering restrictions.
Of the record 32.7 million people who visited Greece last year, around 3.4 million, or one in 10, went to the island of just 15,500 residents.
"We need to set limits if we don't want to sink under overtourism," Santorini mayor Nikos Zorzos told AFP.
"There must not be a single extra bed... whether in the large hotels or Airbnb rentals."
As the sun set behind the horizon in Oia, thousands raised their phones to the sky to capture the moment, followed by scattered applause.
For canny entrepreneurs, the Cycladic island's famous sunset can be a cash cow.
One company advertised more than 50 "flying dresses", which have long flowing trains, for up to 370 euros ($401), on posters around Oia for anyone who wishes to "feel like a Greek goddess" or spruce up selfies.
'Respect Oia'
But elsewhere in Oia's narrow streets, residents have put up signs urging visitors to respect their home.
"RESPECT... It's your holiday... but it's our home," read a purple sign from the Save Oia group.
Shaped by a volcanic eruption 3,600 years ago, Santorini's landscape is "unique", the mayor said, and "should not be harmed by new infrastructure".
Around a fifth of the island is currently occupied by buildings.
At the edge of the cliff, a myriad of swimming pools and jacuzzis highlight Santorini is also a pricey destination.
In 2023, 800 cruise ships brought some 1.3 million passengers, according to the Hellenic Ports Association.
Cruise ships "do a lot of harm to the island", said Chantal Metakides, a Belgian resident of Santorini for 26 years.
"When there are eight or nine ships pumping out smoke, you can see the layer of pollution in the caldera," she said.
Cruise ship limits
In June, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis floated the possibility of capping cruise ship arrivals to Greece's most popular islands.
"I think we'll do it next year," he told Bloomberg, noting that Santorini and tourist magnet Mykonos "are clearly suffering".
"There are people spending a lot of money to be on Santorini and they don’t want the island to be swamped," said the pro-business conservative leader, who was re-elected to a second four-year term last year.
In an AFP interview, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni echoed this sentiment and said: "We must set quotas because it's impossible for an island such as Santorini... to have five cruise ships arriving at the same time."
Local officials have set a limit of 8,000 cruise boat passengers per day from next year.
But not all local operators agree.
Antonis Pagonis, head of Santorini's hoteliers association, believes better visitor flow management is part of the solution.
"It is not possible to have (on) a Monday, for example, 20 to 25,000 guests from the cruise ships, and the next day zero," he said.
Pagonis also argued that most of the congestion only affects parts of the island like the capital, Fira.
In the south of the island, the volcanic sand beaches are less crowded, even though it is high season in July.
'I'm in Türkiye
The modern tourism industry has also changed visitor behavior.
"I listened (to) people making a FaceTime call with the family, saying 'I'm in Türkiye," smiled tourist guide Kostas Sakavaras.
"They think that the church over there is a mosque because yesterday they were in Türkiye."
The veteran guide said the average tourist coming to the island has changed.
"Instagram has defined the way people choose the places to visit," he said, explaining everybody wants the perfect Instagram photo to confirm their expectations.