On January 26, 2012, a fire swept through a historical area of Valparaíso, damaging ten commercial locales and injuring several people.

One of those affected was the Escuela de Samba Valparaíso, a school dedicated to the art of percussion. More than 60 large drums, various musical instruments and costumes, totaling around $6 million Chilean Pesos ($12,000 USD), were lost. It is as the school’s director Ronny Mancilla says, a real tragedy.

Fires are ugly, horrible things. But, they are a part of life. We can only forge on, rebuild and keep beating our drums to life’s rhythm.

The school is currently taking donations which can easily be transferred to their account at Banco Estado: 247 645 47485. If you would like to donate but live outside of Chile, please contact me and we will find a way to let the beat go on!

 

 

Now, I had the idea for this “multimedia” piece after the fact of randomly encountering this group in the street. I had just been fooling around and getting used to video, as one of 2012’s goals is also incorporating more pieces in my blog such as this. So next time, I’ll have a plan and find a better video editing software!