Brass band keeps youths from gang life  Author: By Monique
Rivalland for CNN Published On: Apr 02 2013 06:14:26 AM EDT  
Updated On: Apr 02 2013 09:45:56 AM EDT (CNN) -  Every Friday
morning 17-year-old Sarel Ramphele puts on his gold-trimmed
suit, grabs his trumpet and walks the 6 kilometers from his home
in Blood River to the neighboring village.  Under a makeshift
iron roof in the yard of an unused house he meets with scores of
other young people to rehearse for what has become an improbable
musical success story in one of South Africa's poorest regions.
Based in Limpopo, a rural region whose lifeblood is its
eponymous river, Bezzi's Youth Brass Band is one local woman's
answer to a distinct lack of youth engagement in the area.
"There are absolutely no entertainment facilities for young
people around here," says Janet Bezuidenhout, 42, who set up the
band just under three years ago. "The teenagers are just idling
around."  Ramphele joined the band when he was just 14 and last
year was appointed lead tru