環(huán)球英語 — 396：Music from Garbage

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Voice 1

Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Christy VanArragon.

Voice 2

And I’m Marina Santee. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

Luis Szaran is a famous musician from Paraguay. However, it was not easy for him to become a musician. His family was poor. There were eight children. He was the youngest. Szaran describes his experience this way:

Voice 3

“My father was a musician. But he could not make enough money. So he stopped playing music. Instead, he became a rice farmer. My mother and father made it so that none of their children would study music. In those days, people did not think it was good to study music.”

Voice 2

But Szaran loved music. He had a great desire to learn music. So he learned to play the guitar in secret. Later, he met Jose Miranda, a music professor. Miranda said that Szaran was very intelligent and had great skill. And he sent Szaran to study music in Paraguay’s capital city, Asuncion. From there, Szaran continued to study music in many other countries. In the end he returned to play music in Paraguay. Today, Luis Szaran does not only play music, he also writes music. And he leads and directs the musicians in the popular Philharmonic Orchestra of Asuncion, Paraguay.

Voice 1

Szaran knows he has a good life. He wants to share that blessing with the people of Paraguay. He says:

Voice 3

“I have been lucky to be successful. So I want to give back to life, everything that life has given me.”

Voice 2

Szaran remembered how difficult his life was before Professor Miranda helped him. He wanted to use his love for music to give life and hope to other poor, lonely children. So, in 2002, Szaran started ‘Sonidos de la Tierra’. That is Spanish for ‘Sounds of the Earth’. This organization starts music schools in communities that lack resources. When Sounds of the Earth works in a community, it provides musical instruments and teachers. Later, the community itself builds the school.

Voice 1

Cateura is a poor town in Paraguay. It surrounds the garbage dump for Asuncion. The garbage dump is the place where the city sends its waste. It is a like a mountain of rubbish.

Voice 2

The adults in Cateura support their families by collecting things from the garbage – things that can be re–used or recycled, like plastic, aluminium, or glass.

Voice 1

Cateura is not a very safe place for its young people. There is much violence. Children could not get a good education. They did not have much hope for a better future. But now, Cateura’s children can have hope. This hope comes from Szaran’s music.

Voice 2

When Luis Szaran visited Cateura, he wanted to use his music to improve the community. He says,

Voice 3

“I came here once and I saw a woman holding a newborn child with one hand. She was collecting garbage with the other hand. I told myself this could not go on. So, this is how everything started.”

Voice 1

So, Szaran began a Sounds of the Earth music school in Cateura. At the school, children learn to play music quickly. This is because they first learn to play what they hear. This is called the Suzuki method of teaching music. In only a few short months, new students are able to play music for friends and family. This creates more interest in the Sounds of the Earth program. And it creates more support for the school.

Voice 2

Today, there are Sounds of the Earth music schools in on hundred twenty [120] communities in Paraguay. There are about eight thousand [8,000] students in all of those schools. Many of the children become very good musicians. Some of the best students have been able to study music in Europe. Often these students become music teachers. They teach in many of the local Sounds of the Earth music schools. One such student is Jorge Guzman. He said:

Voice 4

“I started when I was 16 years old. I started from nothing. I did not know the names of instruments, like cello, bass, or violin. I did not know anything about music. Then came the Sounds of the Earth project – and it was free. Now, I teach two of those musical instruments, the cello and bass.”

Voice 1

Music has made wonderful changes in the lives of children in poor villages. But that is not all Luis Szaran does with his organization. He said:

Voice 3

“Keep in mind that we are not looking for just good musicians, but also good citizens. There are music colleges and universities to train good musicians. In our case, music is a device to create social structures and social change in Paraguay.”

Voice 2

Luis Szaran and Sounds of the Earth does not stop after a music school is started. The goal is for the whole community to be responsible for the school – for the community to keep it going.

Voice 1

Szaran begins by supplying instruments to the students. But he does not just give them the instruments to keep. The community must earn them by making the school a success.

Voice 3

“When we began, the most difficult part was to connect with people. We had to find a way to give power to the adults, too. We needed to encourage them to organize themselves, to manage the project and raise money.

Voice 2

When the community shows enough interest, Szaran teaches the adults the skills they need. The adults use these skills to continue the school. When a community can support the school without help, it has become a success. Then the community can keep the musical instruments.

Voice 1

In some of the schools, students learn how to make musical instruments. Professional instrument makers teach the students how to make instruments using metal and wood. Sounds of the Earth uses some of these instruments to start new projects. And they sell some instruments to support the organisation’s work.

Voice 2

In Cateura, the students and teachers have even begun to experiment. They are making instruments with a resource the community already has... garbage! Alberto is 20. He joined the Sounds of the Earth program only eight months ago. He showed a BBC news reporter a drum. He made this instrument from things he found in the garbage dump. His teacher plays a guitar that was made from waste food containers. Now Alberto has a dream for his life.

Voice 5

“After I joined the program, I returned to school to finish my studies. My dream is to earn my living by making and repairing stringed instruments – like the violin and the guitar.”

Voice 1

Luis Szaran moves on to a new community when each music school is successful. But hope does not leave the community when he leaves. The adults and children have new skills. And music continues in each Sounds of the Earth music school. Hope remains.