Bagunçaço

04.07.2012 17:49

My trip is wrapping up, and I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed. I’m sitting on a terrace café at an French language school on the bay, a pleasant reprieve from busy streets and a perfect spot for focused study. Yet another world within the world of Salvador. I spent today with a community music project called Bagunçaço (“a big mess”). It started in 1991 in a favela of stick houses built over the sea, with a group of kids that beat to their own drums of cans and recycling materials. One of the older kids, Joselito Crispim, decided to formalize the group into a band and hence was born Bagunçaço. Today the group has a brick-and-mortar site for student-led music classes, a Web-based TV project (see http://www.tvlata.org/), schoolwork reinforcement, English learning, and a positive environment for kids to learn from each other. Above all, the idea is to use music to transform kids’ lives from within, keeping them off the streets where drugs and crime rule. I was so impressed today by the leadership we saw in 12, 13, 14-year olds. They showed us their Web TV project and artwork, we had a drum lesson (all the instruments are made from recycled materials), and even participated in caipoeira. Though rarely recognized, in a formal way, it is these types of community projects that are so essential to development and education in Brazil. I feel honored to have spent the day with Bagunçaço! 

 Percussion instruments made of recycled materials. 

 One of many paintings - this is a typical beach scene of a vendor selling queijo quente - fresh cheese grilled over coals, served with oregano and molasses. Yum!