Growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Amisi Mubale always loved music but it was only after he came to South Africa as a refugee that he finally had a chance to learn the piano. Now a trained piano teacher, he has devoted his life to teaching children how to play the musical instrument.
Mubale studied as a teacher in the DRC but his real love was music. He used to sing traditional songs with the elders and dreamed of one day accompanying the congregation in church. Then in 2001, when conflict flared in the DRC, he fled to South Africa.
He didn’t know how to speak English but managed to work as a car guard at shopping centres for seven years, making an average of R150 on a good day.“It was hard, but it was just a matter of survival,” he said.
In 2008 Mubale found out about The Outreach Foundation, which offers education and social support to residents of Hillbrow in Johannesburg. Discovering they offered music lessons, Mubale eagerly started learning piano, finding a way to attend weekly lessons in Hillbrow even though he lived far. Through the foundation, Mubale started studying piano through UNISA and in 2018 he completed his diploma.
He now works as a teacher at the Outreach Foundation and has made enough money to rent a studio and produce his own music. Every Saturday, he volunteers at Safe Study SA in Lorentzville, teaching children, many of whom come from immigrant families. “These kids, they are also from immigrant parents. I come from the same situation so I feel like I can help. I didn’t get this opportunity growing up,” concluded Mubale.
