The Fraternity – International Humanitarian Federation (FIHF) is supporting the development of a music education project of the Roraima Association of Indigenous Immigrants (AMIR), an initiative that includes the consolidation of an indigenous music school and an orchestra and choir, the No Borders Music Orchestra and Choir.
The contribution of the Humanitarian Fraternity (FIHF) has been through providing instruments, materials and structured spaces for carrying out classes and presentations at the Indigenous Cultural and Training Centre (CCFI), in Boa Vista, Roraima.
Throughout 2022, in addition to the classes held at the CCFI with indigenous Venezuelan children and young people who live in the Jardim Floresta Shelter, the work was also developed with students from the 13 de Setembro State School and members of the Tarao Paru indigenous community, of the Pacaraima Municipality, on the border of Brazil with Venezuela. The annual closing of activities took place at the Nenê Macaggi Cultural Palace, in Boa Vista, with an exhibition of the No Borders Music Orchestra and Choir and the presentation of children and youths participating in the music school.
The performance demonstrated the immense potential of the AMIR Music School methodology, as well as the dedication of the teachers and students, with an incredible capacity for musical learning and development in the brief time they have been active. Besides their expression through music, the talks given by indigenous leaders and the representatives of AMIR were very profound, emphasizing the union between the different peoples and nations and the importance of special indigenous education.
The teaching of music in this school occurs through following a particular methodology developed by the No Borders Music Orchestra, which begins with a period of adaptation, where the teachers work with all instruments, with setting objectives, the integration of the participants, creative expression, familiarity with the music and with musical instruments, as well as greater knowledge of the students on the part of teachers.
During this stage, a pedagogic work is developed, with artistic dynamics and activities, with the objective of providing an expression and development of creativity. In this way, the teachers first work with all instruments, following the process of each student and verifying how they are doing as they move forward in their learning. As some students progress, advanced classes are formed where learning about certain instruments is taught and deepened. Some indigenous educational principles orient the whole development and application of this teaching method, such as interculturality, multilanguaging, community education and special education.
The coordinator of the project on music education, the musician Ricardo Luis Rodriguez, an indigenous Venezuelan of the Kamarakoto tribe, tells us about the history and function of the orchestra: “When I moved to Brazil, I spent a year away from music, until I had this desire to form an orchestra with the indigenous people here. In the beginning, it was just an idea, far from reality, but we managed to make it come true thanks to the work team that volunteered its time, with very talented young teachers who were dedicated and committed.
Ricardo Rodriguez also says that they had to establish a limit of thirty openings for each class, and later, make a selection of those most advanced in playing and singing. Also in the Tarao Paru community, where the indigenous Taurepang live, “there were initially 30 openings, and then we selected those who became part of the First No Borders Music Orchestra and Choir. Those not selected continue to participate in the project and continue practicing. We are working with the age group of 7 to 25, but there are children of five or six who learn quickly, and we made exceptions so they can be part of the orchestra.”
“At this time we have 29 children and youths, counting those selected and others we were already working with in Venezuela. In the choir we have gone beyond what we had proposed, because there are children who have more quickly demonstrated their skills, so we have 37 participants,” adds the coordinator of the music education project.
Transformations and Lessons Learned
The music education process being developed through those activities has shown many transformations and lessons learned, both for students and teachers. Ricardo Rodriguez describes this trajectory of multiple lessons learned that he is going through as a teacher in the school: “It’s lovely to work with children, because the teachers learn a lot from them. They learn new things and to be patient, because children come with a fresh mind, an empty memory, and this motivates one. You have to prepare yourself because the child can surpass you. They’re very curious, can ask about anything, and if you’re not prepared, you won’t know how to explain. So we are becoming more capable and enriched by their simplicity and sincerity.”
Learning occurs not only through lesson practice, but through the challenges that need to be overcome, as the teacher Santiago Valentin, an indigenous Taurepang, expresses: “I received the invitation to become a part of the AMIR orchestra, and it has been a beautiful task, full of new surprises and challenges. It’s truly something new, different, because it’s with children from our own people. It’s a challenge because they are different cultures, with different ways of reading, of understanding, including talking. To give classes is to double learn, because to teach I have to understand completely, so they can understand what I want to explain. Everything has been very nurturing and I have learned a lot.”
One of the big challenges in this context is about teaching music to various Venezuelan and Brazilian ethnicities, a situation that provides acquiring knowledge of different languages and cultures. Kellybel Polido, an indigenous Taurepang, teacher of introduction to music, shows the challenge and the potential of these circumstances: “I worked with beginning music theory, voice preparation, music figures and notes. It was my first experience; I had never worked in this way, and I had some difficulties, but I liked it because I learned a lot, exchanging cultures. I worked with Warao, Taurepang and Macuxi children. I learned some of the children’s basic words and taught through communicating with them.”
And besides learning to play instruments and sing in different languages, there are profound development processes related to human skills and values, such as cooperation, discipline, sensitivity, patience and trust. Those potentials, added to self-esteem, ability to express and resilience, also contribute to improvements in relation to life and ways of overcoming traumas and difficulties.
The capacity for cooperation and integration, an essential quality for an orchestra, was brought by the teacher Ricardo Rodriguez in the sense of complementarity and the consideration of the No Borders Music orchestra as a family that fills the role of supporting all its members, where each instrument and each voice is important, carrying out its function and complementing each other in a harmonious way.
Overcoming challenges and limitations through discipline
Discipline, another element the importance of which was mentioned by the teacher Ricardo, has helped not only in music development, but is also being carried into other areas of life: “Orchestra and discipline. Many children sometimes don’t pay attention, don’t want to, but if there is no discipline, they miss their chance. And if the child has discipline, they can change, become a different child, calmer, obedient at home and on the street.”
Joana Bueno, an indigenous member of the Akawaio tribe, 13 years old, makes a statement about the relevance of discipline in her experience: “I’m happy I was chosen to play here in the No Borders Music Project, because we learn a lot, we integrate with other people, and it’s very interesting. The teachers are good, because besides being fun, they teach us to have discipline and to be responsible. I’m going to use this in everything, not only with the instruments, but with other things in life.”
Overcoming challenges and limitations, practice discipline, concentration and responsibility, develop the capacity for integration and cooperation, contribute to an increase in self-confidence and self-esteem, providing a feeling of dignity. And that reinforcement of self-esteem is fundamental for peoples who historically experienced many violations of human rights.
Love of self is being cultivated, for example, as an opportunity to express oneself in a public performance in a prime location in the capital of Roraima. Crismarby Rojas an indigenous Warao member, 19 years old, shows this feeling of self-valuing: “I feel proud, because I finished the course and learned a lot with the teachers. I learned to sing in the Taurepang, Portuguese and Spanish languages. I’m proud and happy to be here at the presentation, and because my family is here with me. I know I can learn to continue on with music, with the courses.”
The music teacher, Santiago Valentim, an indigenous Taurepang, presents that role of music and its power as a means of expression: “music is a tool that helps us express beyond words. Art opens doors, makes us more human, more sensitive. Far from their communities, many times far from their country, children have much to express, and sometimes there’s no other way.”
Yuvencio Gomez Soares, a Taurepang indigenous leader who currently lives in the Tarao Paru community, also discusses this potential for expression through music. “We feel proud of this group from Venezuela that is here with the orchestra in Brazil. I’m thankful for having decided to form an indigenous association and that the Humanitarian Fraternity (FIHF) decided to support the initiative. No Borders Music gives me a new horizon, because we can demonstrate our talent, our capacity, first to ourselves and then to other people. I believe in education through music, because it produces changes.”
All these very significant qualities and skills are found in the objectives of the orchestra, according to the explanation of the coordinator and teacher, Ricardo Rodriguez, when he addresses the reason for the choice of the name of the No Borders Music orchestra: “Music has no color or border, it’s a universal language. We want to add indigenous people of different ethnicities, cultures and ages, unite those peoples as a single family. Let music be a tool to unify and show a horizon of opportunities to children and young people, so they can perceive that with musical competence they can go far, because with striving and sacrifice, all things are possible.”
The teacher Ricardo Rodriguez also encourages the children to not only focus on the music, “but that they study, that they have a professional career. We want to show the way so they can continue forward, that they have a balance between study and music. Children sometimes feel discouraged because they don’t have resources. And generally, an orchestra is only for those who have money; but this one is for everyone. The majority here come from a poor family, and through music, they learn to value their land, their culture, their home, they are able to value what little they have, and make it greater later on,” he states.
In light of all these potentials, the Humanitarian Fraternity (FIHF) is grateful for the opportunity of developing activities together with the Roraima Association of Indigenous Immigrants (AMIR), and supporting this project of Music Education that is so profound and relevant for Venezuelan indigenous refugees and immigrants, as well as for Brazilians.
