Jose Antonio Abreu -- he's been called a saint, an angel. He is a humble man of action with a heart for caring.
Thirty some years ago, Mr. Abreu had a vision for helping the poorest children in Venezuela’s slums find hope, identity, and a way out of poverty.
He says he realized one of the most efficient ways to fight poverty was to introduce excluded children to a musical education. To give them a way into music that they didn’t have before. To turn their families and communities into allies.
At his first rehearsal, 11 children showed up. He had a choice of whether to give up or persevere. Happily, he listened to his intuition, and millions of children have been blessed.
This video clip tells part of the story. It’s worth the ten minutes.
This month Mr. Abreu received the prestigious TED award, given to people whose caring has made a difference. If you care about children or music, and want to hear more of his story, Click Here.
“The devotion of thought to an honest achievement
makes the achievement possible.”
Mary Baker Eddy
2 comments:
I went back to listen to the acceptance speech. Very inspiring. I wrote down something he said that I thought was very insightful:
“The huge spiritual world that music produces in itself, which also lies within itself, ends up overcoming material poverty.”
Just visited your blog. Had not been there in a while. I've bookmarked it and put it with my "favorites" now. Loved the You Tube Video on "Music Saves Venezuela's Children". What fantastic music!
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