2010 CALENDAR

For the third year we are celebrating RITMOS SOLIDARIOS, a charitable concert that brings together children from all the schools to show a bit of the work done throughout the school year.

In addition to providing the students with the possibility to show their art in front of an audience through this event we pretend to obtain funds to continue working another year in this project.

For this occasion we are going to count with the collaboration of a very special guest: CARLOS MEJIA GODOY Y LOS DE PALACAGUINA.!!!!

Carlos Mejia Godoy is one of the most important Latin American songwriters; his songs are authentic hymns in Nicaragua. Without a doubt, it is a big honor for us his generous collaboration and the children are more than excited to share the stage with a musician of his stature.! Have a look at this video, one of his most emblematic songs: "Nicaragua, Nicaraguita".

The concert will be on November 8th at 4 pm at Casa de los Tres Mundos and the entrance has a symbolic price of 30 cordobas (+ what everyone wants to contribute).

Those who cannot attend will be able to see it live on line and can still collaborate by buying the fourth edition of the Rhythm in the Barrios CALENDAR which has a suggested price of 8 Euros or $ 10 (each can contribute what they feel is right, last year we sold over 800 and the minimum paid for one was $ 2.50 and the maximum 100 Euros!).

Orders can be done through Facebook or sending an email to ritmoenlosbarrios@gmail.com.

We ship worldwide. After receiving the calendar, you can pay through Building New Hope's site or making a payment to an account that will be provided.

Again we are asking for you collaboration to help distribute calendars! (We can send 2, 5, 15, 50, or the amount needed and can be paid once they are sold).

We'll be looking fowards to hear from you!

THANK YOU!

Carlos Mejía Godoy

unity is strenght

The sale of the Third Edition of the Rhythm in the Barrios’calendar has been a total success with over 800 calendars sold and $8,000 made! This amount allows us to continue another year helping improve the education and quality of life of so many children through music. The calendars had a suggested price of $10, but everyone helped with what they could, the minimum that was paid for a calendar was $2.50 and the maximum $130. The money was used to buy instruments, diverse materials used in classes, our teachers’ salaries and organizing training sessions.

School’s first semester in Nicaragua ended in July, and even though we found ourselves going through changes this year with a new coordinator in charge of the project things are going well in the 9 schools we work in we are happy to deliver good news from Rhythm in the Barrios. The most important one is that even though the majority of the help we receive is foreign, now in Nicaragua the project is being run by NICARAGUANS!


The entire semester has been full of frantic activities with a lot of training sessions (by our volunteers), children concerts in all the schools’ activities, an appearance on national television, lots of volunteers, initiation of rehearsal and fund raising for the III edition of RITMOS SOLIDARIOS concert which will take place at the end of the school year. The whole team is doing a great job: Oscar who is fulfilling his job as coordinator wonderfully as well as the other 6 Nicaraguan teachers (Milton, Juan, Josué, Marianne, Alexander and Jose), along with volunteers from several countries that have been supporting the project with their time: (Quelo, Deiene, Laura, Marta, Sergi, Bruce, Emely, Cristina, Ute-Maria and Sarah). A special mention for Quelo who by the time the school year ends will have been in Nicaragua over a year and who is doing an impressive job teaching in several schools, training teachers, coordinating new volunteers, and organizing RITMOS SOLIDARIOS III. In the next couple of weeks we are expecting Lenya and Belen to arrive.

Other great news is the release of Global Lingo CD containing one of our songs “EL TIBURON DEL LAGO COCIBOLCA”. See the details here.


On a sadder side is the passing away of Jim Wenzell who through “Connecticut Quest for Peace” worked tirelessly to send us from the United States a great deal of instruments. It’s definitely because of people like him that we have been able to do our job through the years. We are immensely grateful to him.

No less important for us are the people that donated one instrument insignificant as it may have seemed. The collection organized in Barcelona was also very successful and the instruments that arrived this month in Nicaragua were received with excitement from the children.


Rhythm in The Barrios is a clear example of how "unity is strength". During these years we have received several important donations but nowhere close to the amount of smaller donations that have helped us move forward. We are not only referring to the 800 people that bought the calendar but also to the people that helped us make it, and of course those who help us distribute it as well as the people that in the past 6 years have donated instruments, assisted to fund raising concerts, bought previous editions of the calendar and helped in any other way.


To all of you, thank you and big hugs.

global lingo

Project Ahimsa, a global effort to empower youth through music, released its first album today on iTunes. The album contains "El tiburón del Lago Cocibolca" played by the children of "Rhythm in the barrios".

See the pictures of our children at the recording studio last year.

What is Global Lingo?

Global Lingo is an innovative benefit album that is uniting real "Slumdog Musicaires" from around the world to join forces with other artists and activists to create an album that speaks the universal language of music. Unlike many other "benefit" albums, Global Lingo is an album MADE by beneficiaries using talents and skills cultivated in supported programs.

Renowned musicians such as Michael Franti and Spearhead (San Francisco), Karsh Kale (UK), J-Boogie (San Francisco), Funkadesi (Chicago), Tablapusher (San Francisco), DK (NYC), Sunny Jain (San Francisco), and Janaka Selecta (LA) have donated or joined forces with our sponsored programs such as Youth Movement Records in Oakland, California (USA), Manav Sadhna in Gujarat (India) and Ritmo en los Barrios in Granada (Nicaragua), and beyond to record and remix original tracks for the Global Lingo CD project; a musical celebration of diversity, delivering funky rhythms of reggae, bhangra, hip hop and electronica in a mix-tastic compilation album.

What is Project Ahimsa?

Project Ahimsa is a global effort to empower youth through music. This mission is fulfilled through producing events, supporting youth music educators, donating musical instruments, and developing innovative cultural arts programming. To date, Project Ahimsa has raised funds for these efforts impacting more than 10,000 children in underserved areas worldwide.