2011 report

On Sunday, October 23th, at Casa de los Tres Mundos in Granada, the V edition of our concert Ritmos Solidarios was hold to to put an end to the current school year which finished earlier than usual because of the general elections in Nicaragua.

It has not been an easy year. The needs are many and our teachers have had to work with very few resources. However, despite of the difficulties, their effort has achieved remarkable results. No less remarkable has been the role of the volunteers who helped this year with RelB , teaching music to children and teachers through training workshops in Music Education and Music Therapy which they presented at the II Encuentro Regional de Educadores Musicales ( a meeting for music educators) held in Leon and attended by about 60 participants from throughout Nicaragua.

Another special visit we had in Granada was of a group of students from the organization Actuality Media who made a sensational documentary on RelB, this is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvWZ7ID2hVo


Important news on the other side of the Atlantic are that RELB is now legally registered as an organization, which we hope will open many doors in the future. The nine-member board, composed primarily by former volunteers, is based in Barcelona where for many years, RELB has been developing most of its activity.. During the past few months RelB was present at the Barcelona Cruïlla Festival as well as at La Pegatina concert in Montcada i Reixac doing outreach work and awareness. RELB also organized the IV Jornadas Nicas in Cornellà and a concert at the Sala Apolo with Metabolé and Remendaos groups. We thank these groups for their selfless participation and to all who helped in any of the above activities.

Thanks also to schools, shops and individuals who contributed to the campaign "300 fautas x Nicaragua", especially to music stores Bon So from Rubí and Audenis from Barcelona for their large donation of instruments. In the end we received about a hundred recorders plus several guitars and flamenco cajones among other percussion instruments. In total about 80 kilos of material will bel sent to Nicaragua soon through Fundación SEUR.

And of course, also thank you very much Mauren Antkowski for her photos on the 2011 calendar as well as to all who helped by buying one. In total, we sold about 600 which along with several donations, came out to about $7000.

We also highlight the contribution of the Orquestra de Cámara de Siero (Asturias) which sponsors music lessons for a group of blind children, Hotel Con Corazón, a Dutch Foundation which sponsors music classes in two other schools, and, of course, Building New Hope who helps us to find donations in the United States.

Before closing we should clarify that, due various reasons, in the end it was not possible to organize the concert in Barcelona with the Nicaraguan singer Katia Cardenal but we are still in touch with the foundation that would produce the concert, Mango Mundo, who has worked with us at other times and with whom we have future projects.

Thanks for your attention and best regards.