Foreword from Katherine
Welcome to the first Music for Hope Newsletter of 2022; a monumental year for us as we celebrate our 25th anniversary. In honour of this, I want to take a moment to reflect on some of the things that make me proud of Music for Hope.
I founded Music for Hope 25 years ago, with steely determination but little knowledge of how to set up a
music and leadership programme in rural El Salvador. Luckily, I was helped by some fabulous friends and
family in the UK, by young musicians in the Bajo Lempa and by the truly brilliant community leaders in Nueva Esperanza; shortly followed by our partners in Catalonia. Music for Hope has never been just my vision, but as one of our teachers poetically put it; the accomplished dream of all Bajo Lempa musicians and indirectly, of all people of the Bajo Lempa communities. Music for Hope is very much owned by the communities and is led by their aspirations.
Over the last quarter of a century we have trained over a thousand children, young people and adults in both music and leadership across the Bajo Lempa. We have seen many of our students move into positions of responsibility; amongst them community leaders, NGO leaders, educators and teachers, psychologists, doctors, agriculturists and our own dedicated music teacher team. We have seen three students go on to study music at university and eight students gain music scholarships to further their music education.
We have seen Tony Luna from Nueva Esperanza expertly take the lead to coordinate our work, our dedicated board and volunteers bring new skills and passions into the mix, and our funders, partners and friends and supporters in the UK and Catalonia use their own skills and networks to help raise money for our work.
Our amazing teacher team have led and sustained our work sensitively and courageously through extremely challenging circumstances; gang warfare, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, a global pandemic and many personal and community challenges. Always keeping a love and belief in our students to the fore.
Our students keep the communities ringing with the sound of guitars, basses, keyboards… and use their talent to speak about the issues and themes they care about; accompanying their communities in events and celebrations, and using their leadership skills for the benefit of their communities. Their parents support their creativity in so many ways, whilst providing practical help locally.
So, I couldn’t be prouder to be honest. As I said previously, Music for Hope is a mighty collaboration. Thankyou so much for being part of this community and this journey!
Support our Work, Buy our New CD!
Historias Cantada Siempre Vivirán (Stories that are Sung, Live Forever) is a life affirming compilation of songs written by ourfabulous young musicians and touching on their everyday lives, experiences, hopes and worries. Expect songs about the creation of their communities and the struggles of their parents, the impact of climate change on their low-lying coastal villages and farms, the difficulties some of them face due to poverty and insecurity, as well as their hopes for the future.
The CD is on sale on our website and the cost is £10 + £3 for delivery (UK delivery only). In addition to physical copies of the CD, we also have a digital version for sale on our Bandcamp page! This can be bought as a digital album for £10, or buy the album and a digital copy of the CD booklet for £13. All proceeds from the CD go towards supporting our work in the Bajo Lempa!
Updates from Tony Luna and Our Team in El Salvador
Our team did a great job at rising to the challenges of 2021. We kept the music centres open for most of the year, so that the children could continue to learn and strengthen their music skills. Our bands supported community activities from anniversaries, to fundraisers and others, providing a constant source of local pride! Obviously, the pandemic is not over yet so whilst we continue to keep the music centres open we have put in place different measures to prevent the spread of the virus and keep our students safe.
Tony Centeno: Project Coordinator and Music Teacher in Nueva Esperanza
Nueva Esperanza’s music school have been busy participating in local community activities including;
– A community day of action to exchange plants, seeds and local produce organised by ACUDESBAL,
– Music for Hope’s online Christmas concert where the bands very proudly shared their own songs with
a huge online audience.
Song writing is one of the many achievements nurtured by our friend, Andrew Redden, when he came to visit us in the El Bajo Lempa.
Pedro: Music Teacher in El Zamoran
An important achievement for me, was to start working with children in the community of El Marillo. For many years, this was impossible due to the gang violence so we are really pleased that the children in this community are going to be able to have their chance to learn music and represent their community in different events. This wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated support of the community, who have expressed their gratitude for our work.
Eneyda: Music Teacher in Amando Lopez
I have supported my students to write and compose new songs and we now have a good number ready to
perform. We have also organised several musical events to entertain the community, present our
achievements and to fundraise. I am very proud to say that parents actively support my work with the
children. Together we recently organized a Tamales Day (tamales are a local maize dish) to raise funds for a Fun Day for students.
My groups also performed in the community harvest celebration where we celebrate all that Mother Earth provides. Our groups played their own songs about nature and why it is important to take care of the planet. We also supported Elders Day where we recognized the experience and wisdom of the elders who helped establish the community. It was great to see new and old generations sharing together and having a good time.
Wilfredo: Music Teacher in La Papalota
Our bands have supported both the Music for Hope Christmas concert and our community Christmas event where we had the audience on their feet dancing!
As a teacher, I am constantly thanked by local people who recognise the music centre as a safe space for children, where they can come to learn new skills and play music instead of being on the street where they are at risk of being groomed by gang members. Our students are the pride of the community.
Ingrid: Music for Hope’s Psychologist
Last year was really tough for the children due to the stress and anxiety of the pandemic. In the early months they couldn’t rehearse and they really missed that collective space. So, I met with parents and teachers to look at ways of promoting positive mental health and wellbeing. As a result, I created and posted a range of audio-visual materials on Music for Hope’s Facebook page, exploring tools to support emotional wellbeing, limit anxiety and stress and keep safe.
Now that the restrictions have lifted, we can finally come together. So I have been doing group activities with the children in each music centre exploring community and nature. This has helped the children to appreciate the green spaces in their communities.
Christmas Concert
The Christmas concert is one of the most important events in the Music for Hope calendar and a perfect
opportunity for the bands to come together and celebrate their achievements.
This year, as in 2020, we decided to do the concert online via Zoom with a live broadcast on Facebook, for the safety of our students and the communities.
Online concerts take a huge amount of preparation so our students and teachers start work from the
beginning of the year; writing, arranging and finally recording the videos. Over the year, 11 new songs were recorded, a tremendous achievement bearing in mind the pressures of 2021. The concerts presented material across two days:
Day 1: Festival of Original music. Songs written by the groups during 2021 with themes including
Climate change, Migration, friendship and environmental protection. To watch this event, click here
Day 2: Christmas Concert by the Young people of Music for Hope in El Salvador. A day of Latin American traditional music; Cumbia, Merengue, Salsa and Andean music. To watch this event, click here
The UK and Beyond
A big welcome to our new volunteer, David and intern, Ella who have recently joined us! We’re excited to see what their skills, experience and passion will bring to the mix! And our team in the UK have been busy cooking up a range of activities to promote and support our work:
Music for Hope at El Sueño Existe – 5-7 August 2022
We’re really excited to be participating in this year’s El Sueño Existe Festival in Machynlleth which this year will focus on the themes of El Salvador and Peace, Climate and Justice.
Cultural Exchange workshop
We have developed a half day cultural exchange workshop for primary schools. This package shares aspects of El Salvador’s social history and highlights the importance of our work with children and young people in preventing gang violence.
Latin American Solidarity Conference – 4-5 April 2022
Our amazing volunteer, Emily McIndoe is jointly convening an online conference about British solidarity with Latin America on 4 and 5 April; an absolute must for anyone with an interest in the solidarity movement. Music for Hope may well be presenting at this conference too. For more information contact Emily at hsemcind@liverpool.ac.uk
Music for Hope Website
We are really proud of our newly designed website complete with an online shop. A huge thanks to Mike Farley for the re-design and re-construction of the website and to volunteer, Emily McIndoe for her tireless work in making this happen.
Team Building
We have been seizing the positive aspects of global communication that Zoom brings! In November our UK and Salvadoran teams met and in December, it was the turn of our Catalonian friends at Agermanament Igualada-Nueva Esperanza to meet our Salvadoran team. These Zoom meetings provide valuable opportunities to link, connect, discuss our work and for mutual support and friendship.
Keep in Touch
Like what we do? Follow us on FB and Twitter @musicforhopeuk and let us know what you think! You can
also link to our SoundCloud, BandCamp and Instagram accounts from our website.
We also have a pool of regular donors who support our work. They are crucial to our survival. If you want to be part of this effort, get in touch with us on musicforhope@gmail.com to find out more.
