Music, The fabric of Life

I think it goes to show how important to a country music is when there is a street where mariachis hang out waiting to be hired. Anyone can go down to hire them for serenades or parties, for as long or short a time as you like.
But the mariachi street is but one tiny demonstration of how much music is a part of the very fabric of life here in Colombia. The past couple of days we have visited some other projects that are taking their music very seriously. For the guys running these projects they see music as a way of keeping kids off the streets and out of gangs that are constantly trying to recruit youths in the poorer areas.
Yesterday we visited a group called L-Mental (Elemental) that run a series of workshops on Sunday mornings teaching various aspects of Hip Hop culture. In a community centre in Ciudad Bolivar they provide free classes that are an inspiration to the kids of the area. We were shown a breakdance class that was of a truly high quality with several instructors running a group of around forty kids.
The main problem for L-Mental, like so many of the community projects we have visited, has been with funding. They have had problems in the past when people have invested mony and then tried to take control of the project itself. The guys running the project stress that it is vital that the they remain in control as it is they who understand what the kids need. They are very serious about their work and about the area in which they live. Such can be demonstrated in the lyrics of the music that they produce. The Hip Hop that they make is progressive and politically charged telling of the trials and tribulations of everyday life. For them music is a way of channeling thier emotions and bringing a positive message to those younger than them. L-Mental have a very small recording studio up in the hills of the barrio in the front room of one of their crew. Here they have recorded many groups fro free and are committed to providing a free service to anyone who wants it. Their resources are extremely limited and their old computer is now beginning to fail them. We are going to try to help them in what ways we can but what they really need is some real imput of infrastructure that could see them move out of the front room and into a proper location from which to work.
In the future this exactly the project that we aim to help, unfortunately we couldn´t bring enough with us this time to help everyone. As it is, however, music is what binds these people together and provides them with real hope to keep moving in the right direction.