By Alejandra Rosado | CEO
"My name is Vanessa,
I am 11 years old and I lost my home during the earthquake of 2017. I have been part of the traditional music guitar workshop of Una mano para Oaxaca, since 2018. Our teacher, professor Giovanni Gutierrez, is a great local musician who developed a teaching method to introduce children into guitar playing, practicing our native language, called zapoteco, through singing. What I like more from what we have learned, is that I can play guitar as companion of my grandpa’s zapoteco singing. Now, everyone wants to play too, even my cousins bought a guitar. During my school graduation I offer myself for playing so my friends could sang in zapoteco, for saying goodbye to the school. Even one of my youngest partners, Zahir of 7 years, told me that when someone bothers him at school, he keeps calm by thinking in “El torito”, a song that Giovanni compose to teach us about traditional festivals.
Last May Una mano para Oaxaca organized a festival for traditional zapotec bands. We were the hosts, so our parents helped with tamales and horchata water. They were proud because me and my class played in front of many people, almost a thousand. There were seven other communities participating, we were more than a hundred of kids playing traditional music. I got very nervous at the beginning but everything went well, we even gave our teacher a recognition plate during the concert, because we were very proud of what we have achieved. The festival was called “The river’s Song” because all the visitors were from the towns with which we share pass of the river, Guigu Bicu or Dog’s river. The river is very polluted and we want to save it. This festival was for remembering people that if we work together we can make incredible things for changing our world. It was beautiful, I believed traditional music keeps us safe and close to our culture, like a tie beneath our families and their hearts."
Thanks to your support, the workshop of traditional guitar and zapotec singing have been part of our community center activities during 2019. Also the festival River's Song was a dream that came true. Thanks a lot!
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By Alejandra Rosado | CEO
By Alejandra Rosado | CEO
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