In the summer of 2014 I had just graduated and was about to go out into the real world, but first, I had the trip of a lifetime to make.
I had become a volunteer for Music for Hope a couple of years earlier through a friend who was also at the University of Manchester. I had always felt a pull towards El Salvador (for some unknown reason) and knew that I would travel there one day, so when our founder, Katherine, asked if I wanted to go, I jumped at the opportunity. Not only was I getting to travel to somewhere on my bucket list, but I was getting to do it for an amazing cause that I wholeheartedly believe in. I could not believe my luck! And I am forever grateful for the generosity of the anonymous donors who wanted to pay for two of Music for Hope’s volunteers to travel to El Salvador. Thank you.
The purpose of the trip was to see Music for Hope’s work in action and to experience Salvadoran life so that, as volunteers, we might have a better understanding of the day-to-day life of our teachers and as a result, make better informed suggestions within the Music for Hope team.
So off we went to El Salvador – myself and Lizzie (who was another of MFH’s volunteers at the time). My parents waved me off, equally as excited and nervous as I was. This was the furthest I’d ever travelled and the most independent trip I’d ever been on. I knew we’d be safe though because Tony Luna was meeting us at the other end and was going to look after us for the 2 weeks we were there.
After a long flight, we arrived at the airport and sure enough, we were met throughout the trip. The journey from the airport took about 40 minutes in the car and it was already dark when we got there. Although we couldn’t see anything, I distinctly remember the smell of that evening as we turned off the main roads and down the long track towards the Bajo Lempa. The air smelt so fresh! Like pine trees and freshly cut grass. Delightful.
When we arrived in Nueva Esperanza (one of the communities in the Bajo Lempa) we were greeted by Rigo – one of the community’s very helpful young adults – and shown to our room for the night.
Day 2
The next morning we were woken up at 5am by the cows and the cockerel and as we stepped outside our room, we saw Nueva Esperanza in the daylight for the first time. I had never seen anything like it. Beautiful paintings on buildings amongst corrugated roofs and dirt tracks, whilst the greenery that encased the village stood tall and vibrant. And even amongst all the noise from the wildlife, there was a peacefulness that, growing up in a British town, I had never experienced before.
Tony arrived at the guesthouse to show us around the village and explain how MFH operates within the different communities. We spent the first day exploring and meeting some people from Nueva Esperanza, including Tony Centeno who teaches in the music centre there. He was in the middle of teaching a class of 5/6 year olds in the village’s music space, which again had been joyfully painted. The pupils looked enthused and I was impressed to see so many youngsters engaged at once, and in such a small space too. They were clearly enjoying learning about music and this was the start of me truly understanding just how integral Music For Hope is for so many people in the Bajo Lempa.
Whilst the instruments provided by the project were quite new and in
good condition, there were a couple of violins that had been donated which were in some serious need of TLC. Luckily, Lizzie was a violinist and was able to fix them that afternoon when we were back at the guesthouse. As I wrote about what a wonderful day we’d had so far, I could hear Tony C’s students rehearsing across the way. I’m sure I could hear a neighbour joining in too and loved how the sounds of the wildlife just seemed to slot in with the music.
After a day of eye-opening discovery and witnessing the project in action, first hand, it was time for Pupusas – a Salvadoran speciality which is sort of like a savoury pancake filled with refried beans, cheese and meat (optional). We ate at Nueva Esperanza’s pupusa stand almost every night of our stay and it was delicious!
I should mention here that Lizzie and I unfortunately did not speak a word of Spanish so Tony L amazingly acted as translator for us for the trip, as well as general chaperone – a massive thanks to you Tony!
Day 3
We travelled across to the neighbouring community of El Zamoran in a “mototaxi” which is sort of half motorcycle and half mini pickup truck. Brilliant invention. It was here that we met all of the MFH teachers for the first time. We learnt that, as well as teaching instruments they all belong to their own bands too. The teachers filled us in on each of the communities they taught in at the time and we devised a plan that enabled us to see their work in action and so that Lizzie and I could share some of our teaching experience too.
We didn’t know what our trip entailed until we got there and our itinerary just sort of unfolded as we went along. I remember being amazed at how laid back everyone was about making plans – a definite sense of “mañana, mañana” – and it was so refreshing! And yet, things absolutely still got done, just in a much more relaxed, less angsty sort of way than the likes of the Brits I felt. There was a lot more love involved somehow. Within just a couple of days the beautiful Salvadoran culture was making me question and reshape my own.
We spent the rest of the afternoon back in Nueva Esperanza where we bumped into Soledad – the mother figure of the community who initiated peace and equality there. We then went to have a jam with Tony C and one his eldest students, Moises. Between us we played a mixture of bass guitar, piano, drums, flute and violin to explore well known songs and teach each other new songs. It didn’t matter that we didn’t have language in common because we had music, and music often communicates more than words can.
Tony L’s mother-in-law cooked us a delicious dinner that evening. It was the first time I’d had guacamole and I’ve never had better guacamole since. Thanks Adela!
Days 4 & 5
We went to Eneyda’s school where it happened to be a day of celebrating children, so there were lots of music and drama performances to watch. There was so much talent within the school and many of the musicians were multi-instrumentalists, effortlessly moving between piano, drum kit, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, guiro and singing.
Next, we made our way to San Salvador on the most colourful bus I’ve ever seen. Tony showed us the university there and later on there were a series of bands performing to celebrate the revolution of 1975. Each band played a different genre of music – from punk to ska, hip-hop, cumbia and other local Salvadoran traditions that were less familiar to me. It was such a powerful event that supported the fight for peace and justice and is one that will stay with me. Once again, the power of music stood steadfast in its ability to connect and unite.
We stopped in San Salvador for the night, ready for the class tomorrow.
On our way to the music class the next morning we popped into the central library to have a look around and Tony L helped us write a note in the visitor’s book in Spanish, to help spread the word of MFH a little.
The music classes formed part of the teacher’s professional development that year. The classes aimed to give the teachers a theoretical grounding in music as well as teaching some singing techniques and ideas. The team seemed to get a lot of out of these classes and it was useful for Lizzie and me to see this in progress so that we could take this information back to the UK team. It was also useful for us to see these classes so that we knew the types of workshops we could run.
Days 6 & 7 – taking it all in
The teacher team had expressed how much they appreciated us experiencing the Salvadoran culture and just taking each day as it comes. Days 6 and 7 were certainly full of that. After observing some more great teaching in the morning, we helped herd the cows for milking in the afternoon! On horseback! Rigo and Moises tacked up two horses for us to ride with beautifully embroidered leather saddles. Moises, on the other hand, rode bareback with just a blanket, mounting his horse simply by jumping up. Out we rode through what the locals call the forest, but to my eyes it looked more like a jungle, with thin branches hanging down from the canopy above you and luscious greenery beside a flowing brook. We rode through fields and fields of plantation crop where the crops rose way above our heads. Once we’d visited all the fields we had all the cows together and walked them homeward. Moises went on with the cows to the milking paddock while we had to go back and find a pregnant cow that had gone astray. When we found her she had literally just given birth! Rigo scooped up the calf upon his saddle and we walked the new mother and daughter back to the others.
That evening we had yet another delicious dinner at Adela’s of bananas dipped in beans. The following evening we attended a village party in Nueva Esperanza that had been arranged by the young people to raise money for the ambulance service, in case the elders of the village ever needed it. I remember loving being immersed in the vibrant music of Central America and was amazed that everyone knew how to dance! Whether it was cumbia, merengue, or salsa playing, everyone knew exactly what to do. After the party, we stayed chatting with some of the teachers and young people and learnt of the horrors their families had been through during the civil war. I remember thinking how incredibly strong my new Salvadoran must be, when they have faced so much tragedy and trauma yet every day, radiate so much warmth and friendliness.
Days 8, 9 & 10 – festival in Perquin
We set off the for the legendary Festival Del Invierno in Perquin, first thing. Perquin is about 4 hours north of the Bajo Lempa, near the border with Honduras, and we travelled by standing up in the back of a pick-up truck with several others who were going that way too.
When we arrived, we were lucky enough to find a little room at the back of a local shop to stay in that night. I had very naïvely expected to turn up and find a festival field, but instead it was a huge stage on a concrete pavilion, surrounded by many market stalls of food and trinkets.
Dragon Negro, who are a band that MFH teacher, Tony, is part of, played a set that evening and it went down a storm. The crowd loved them and rightly so as they’re all excellent musicians! They certainly set the standard for all the acts that followed – a mixture of heavy metal, cumbia and merengue. Again, everyone knew how to dance! It was incredible looking across the huge sea of people and seeing everyone dancing as though they’d all had ballroom training! We danced the night away with locals trying to teach us the right moves and loved every second of it. When the official acts finished, we continued the party by jamming in the streets. We met so many wonderful people this way, including the influential William who was one of MFH’s original teachers.
The next day we went to the Museo de la Revolución which was breath-taking in every respect. The museum commemorates the Salvadoran Civil War (1980-1992) and contains notable wartime artefacts, documents and testimonies from that time. Outside the museum, there’s a massive crater caused by a bomb and historical massacre sites nearby. As you walk up from the museum you can reach the summit of Perquin. From there you get a 360 degree view so you can see Honduras too. It’s beautiful. But to look out over a land that has seen so much hurt bloodshed is sombre and sobering to say the least.
Day 11 – back in the Bajo Lempa
Day 11 was filled with observing our MFH teachers in action. First off,we went to the area where Eneyda teaches. It’s a beautiful space to teach from – a large tiled platform with a roof and no sides, sort of like a giant bandstand. The pupils we saw clearly had lots of respectfor Eneyda and practiced hard on their instrument whilst Eneyda was showing some other pupils how to play their part. Once they had all had chance learn and rehearse their separate parts, the pupils came together to put the song together and make it whole. This oral tradition of learning really relies on the musician’s listening skills and it was evident as the song came together how skilled the pupils are at this. Before we left Eneyda’s teaching space, we revealed a piñata for the pupils which they had a lot of fun with. Music for Hope doesn’t simply teach music, it also creates opportunities for pupils to come together and play, as is their right as children, and it was lovely to see this in action; children brought together by music and simply enjoying themselves.
We visited Pedro next in his teaching space which is in a different part of the Bajo Lempa. It looked a little like a mixture between an outhouse at a farm and a small community hall with high ceiling and a stage as the main focal point. We were warmly greeted by Pedro and some of his students who were quite experienced. They played a number of tunes for us, showcasing their excellent hard work and talent and for one song, Pedro’s son who was 6 years old(!) became the frontman of the band. He sang the Spanish version of ‘You’re the one that I want’ from the musical Grease and was absolutely flawless!
To finish off an inspiring day, we headed to the stunning beach and ate Iguana soup for dinner back in Nueva Esperanza!
Days 12 & 13 – sharing ideas
The plan for these two days was to run two 4-hour workshops with the teachers to share some of mine and Lizzie’s teaching/musical knowledge. We had been planning these workshops during our free time throughout our stay and we took inspiration from everything we had observed, teaching only what we thought might be useful for the MFH teacher team and trying not to bring too much of a Western influence.
Pedro hosted us in the garden of his lovely home and over the two days, we ran sessions on: rhythm, tempo, conducting, scale structure, singing techniques and warm-ups for choirs, listening games, lesson planning, and basic piano, violin and bass guitar skills.
It was such a fruitful couple of days and we all learnt so much from one another. The teachers picked things up rapidly and were so keen to get involved and give things a go. I feel it’s a real strength of MFH that the teachers are always looking to learn more when they are already such distinguished musicians, even Pedro who has been part of MFH from the beginning.
We got back to the guesthouse with a little time to practice a few songs for our farewell party the following day. And just as it was time to go and get our pupusas, the rain came down in an almighty fashion! It was up to our ankles in no time, the lightning was as bright as day but purple, and the thunder didn’t clap, it shot! It summed up our whole trip really as it was like nothing we’d ever experienced before.
Days 14 & 15 – farewell
On the morning of our last full day we walked to Ciudad Romero, which is a couple of communities along from Nueva Esperanza. Lots of MFH pupils are from this community so it was interesting to see this part of the Bajo Lempa, get a feel for the village and to see more music-making in action. We had seen a vast number of children learning and participating in music throughout our stay and each child we saw was engaged and motivated to learn, clearly enjoying themselves in the process. It was heart-warming to witness this again on our last day, as we had done throughout the trip.
The last night arrived and with it, crowds of people from different communities, many of whom we’d never met. They’d all come to the guesthouse for our farewell party. Various different groups had been rehearsing to come and perform and each of them were just fantastic! The evening consisted of group after group performing, mainly MFH students, but some adults from neighbouring communities with their children too. Lizzie and I performed a couple of numbers. Our music was vastly different from everything else and we definitely felt the Salvadoran musical traditions were much better at creating a party spirit. It was nice to share nevertheless.
ven to this day, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced so much creativity and vitality in one evening. I never wanted it to end. But end it did and with it, so did our trip. We went to bed smiling and woke up not wanting to leave the beautiful Bajo Lempa where we had made so many wonderful new friends and experienced, learnt and shared so much. We loaded our luggage into Lewis’ car and as we left for the airport, reluctantly waved goodbye to the Bajo Lempa with its welcoming culture and warm people, feeling incredibly grateful for the once in a lifetime opportunity to visit the home of music for hope.
