Spreading Messages of Hope in Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Thanks to two grants received last year from donors in the UK and USA, Latidos Fundacion - meaning "The Beats" or "Heartbeats" - is flourishing. This is a special programme set up for children and young people in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Originally, it was created to use music and arts to promote a culture of life and peace in Barquisimeto, and to keep children and young people, aged 3-17 years old, away from violence and drugs on the streets. Today, the exciting activities involve 1,200 children and young people, living in some of the city’s most deprived ‘barrios’ (shanty towns).
In a country and region hit hard by the global pandemic, where one continues to find bereavement and sadness within families and communities, through their lively music, the children and young people have been restoring merengue, salsa and other rhythms to life. Recently, six of them have also been invited to participate in two popular radio stations: Radio El Salvador 91.3 FM and Radio Comunitaria Participativa 101.1 FM. Radio El Salvador broadcasts every Monday between 7 to 9 pm, and Radio Comunitaria Participativa on Wednesdays between 4 to 6 pm. One is a diocesan radio station, the other is private. The broadcasts enable the young voices to reach across all social backgrounds in bringing good cheer to audiences of all ages, many of whom may have lost a cherished relative or friend due to COVID-19. National and international audiences are reached as well through related digital platforms.
Each of the six young people involved in the radio programmes has been researching models of hope to share with their wide listening audiences. They have chosen, in particular, to look into the inspiring lives of: Dr Anna Dengel, who founded the Society in Washington DC in September 1925 - nearly 100 years ago; Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was trained by Medical Mission Sisters in their Holy Family Hospital in Patna in the 1940s, before moving to Kolkata to care for the sick and dying through her Missionaries of Charity; and Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and ardent campaigner for girls’ education. Following detailed research, the young people have shared their inspirational stories widely across radio audiences - to rekindle hope in the region. The feedback from listeners has been extremely positive. As part of the project, our participants also feel proud to wear T-shirts, specially printed with their chosen symbols. This helps them to be associated with the radio broadcasts.
Having their voices heard weekly by so many people is building the young people's confidence, as well as bringing fresh messages of hope across the region.
There has also been time for families, children and young people to relax together and enjoy creativity in the park. They were invited to spend a day outdoors, meaning that everyone could disconnect from their iPhones, technology, work and other daily cares of life. They met and got to know each other face-to-face through relaxing together. This helped enormously to alleviate the stress of day-to-day living. More than 300 people have attended the activities so far, divided into two groups; one Saturday in April, parents and relatives with children aged between 4 to 13 years old were invited to come along, on another, children aged 14 to 17 years old took part in the leisure-time activities with their parents and relatives.
Everyone enjoyed taking time out to relax, be joyful and creative together and, towards the end of the day, two famous clowns entertained them and made them laugh. In a country where, when COVID-19 came along, some of Venezuela’s poorest citizens were ill-equipped to cope with ‘crisis within a crisis’, these happy hours spent relaxing together have proved very healing.
You can see a short video capturing the activities through this link: