About ten years ago, I had the most amazing dream: I was standing in front of a rattletrap of a house. It looked to me as though it had once been a handsome mansion, and that rich people had once lived there, but it had fallen into disrepair. The porch had nearly collapsed, all the windows broken and no light glimmered from within.

For some reason I felt drawn to this aging disaster. I walked to it hesitantly. I managed to stumble over the loose boards of the front steps and found the door partly open. I squeezed through that, cautious of slivers and exposed nails. I called out, "Hola, hola, hay alguien aqui?"

It was night and the full moon provided little light as I entered the dilapidated foyer. "Hello!" I called again. I wandered through, wishing I had a flashlight, but little by little my eyes became accustomed to the darkness and I could make out shapes - a fat sofa in the corner, a tall book shelf, some broken chairs and a table that could accommodate many people. Then I saw the flight of stairs. I crept up slowly and called out again. It had been so quiet that the only sound was the creaking of the floor boards as I walked along.

Then I heard rustling, whispering, then quiet bursts of giggling. One by one at the top of the stairs on a landing, little children appeared each carrying a lit candle. With so many candles lighting their faces, I saw how dirty they were and their ragged shirts, and their little thin arms. "Hola, who are you?" I asked them. They answered in unison:

"We are the abandoned ones."

That dream woke me from a sound sleep. Los Abandonados. That would be the name of my project, to collect violins and violas, and when I made the move to Nicaragua, to take them to an orphanage and give them the gift of music through playing a violin.

This vision had been forming in my heart for a long time. At first I considered Peru but as we prepared to move to Nicaragua, I have felt led to look for an orphanage there. By coincidence, a lady I met in Costa Rica on a recent teaching sojourn there has just written about an orphanage she visited on the Isle of Onotepe in Nicaragua. There must be others.

What I need to fulfill this vision and to make the dream a reality, is more instruments, strings, cases, bows. I have about 25 instruments now and my target is 50 instruments. I can do this with your help: you teachers, students, families. Please donate now any instruments you no longer use. I hope to be leaving for Nicaragua within the next six months so all donations need to be with me by July of 2007.

We can't take care of all the poor children in the world, but we can help those we know. I can help through my own musical gifts. Music transcends language, culture, and poverty.

I hope you can help.

contact carmen@wiseword.ca

Music Credits: "Child of the Poor" performed by VIVA! ARRIBA! Soloists are Kent Fawcett on Viola and Thomas Komar on Flute.

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