Orchestrating a Better Future: How Music Education is Helping Children in Poverty
By Ashley Puderbaugh
Juan David sits down on the blue plastic stool in the multipurpose room of the Malambo community center in Barranquilla, Colombia. He gently places a black case on his lap. The 15-year-old chats with another student as he opens it, revealing the shiny flute on loan from the community center. He reaches in and carefully removes it, taking care to thoroughly clean each component before putting the instrument together.
“My favorite instrument is the flute. When I’m playing, I feel very peaceful and calm, because I leave my world behind,” Juan David says later. “I leave my problems behind, and I can just concentrate on myself and the music coming from my flute.”
Class begins. He puts the instrument to his lips and, along with the rest of the orchestra, he begins playing chords, tapping his feet to keep tempo.
Although the Children International Colombia Wind Orchestra has been around since 2002 (originally called the Blizzard Orchestra), funding proved challenging each year. Now, thanks to a new music program funded by The Sally and Dick Roberts Coyote Foundation, in association with the film and website, “I Am a Fine Musician,” kids in Barranquilla no longer have to worry whether their orchestra will be able to continue. The Foundation partnered with Children International last March to fund the Music for Development program in both Barranquilla and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Read more about Children International's Music for Development program.
See how music education has made a big difference for one girl in the Dominican Republic (VIDEO).
