 | IDENTITY
"Music gives us the possibility to express ourselves"
Leonardo from Argentina belongs to a murga, a lively band of street musicians and dancers, who get together to make music and have some fun.
For many members, a murga is seen as a form of protest. The performance group sings songs about the difficulties of everyday life, including crime in the streets, corruption in the government and strikes in schools.
In Leonardo's point of view, the group can offer a significant change in the quality of the life of children who join. Apart from providing a network of support, it also fosters a cultural life and a strong sense of identity to the members.
Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises that, governments should direct a child's education towards "respect for... his or her cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living..."
When this right is upheld, it can have a positive impact. For Leonardo it has made a difference. |
Hello. My name is Leonardo and I'm 13 years old.
I wake up in the mornings, I have breakfast and then I help my family clean the house.
I live with my grandmother in a poor neighbourhood outside of Buenos Aires. Two brothers live with me, and five live with my mother.
On Mondays I wake up and go to school at 7:30 in the morning. I finish around midday.
In this neighbourhood we have a group of music or murga, which is called Los Brotados de mi Barrio [The Sprouts of Our Town]. 
Leonardo interviews several friends to see if they enjoy being part of the performance group as much as he does. And they do. His friends emphasise the spirit of camaraderie, love and solidarity.
These are their thoughts:
When I am sad, I come here and the sadness goes away. I really like all the kids here, always full of energy and ready to help.
Javier
I like everything... [about the performance group] because we learn to dance and we make lots of friends.
Juliana
The idea to make this group was not only mine, other people had it too because when we were younger we had all participated in a murga and we wanted to have the same thing in our town.
For me it is very important. It gives us the possibility to express ourselves, to say whatever we do not like in our society and it also gives us the opportunity to be part of a group, to have friends and be good neighbours.
Karina, group co-ordinator
The group is everything Karina said, and it is also freedom, liberty. The murga Los Brotados de mi Barrio was created three years ago. On the 19th of February we will celebrate three years of existence.
In that year the solidarity group El Brote [The Sprout], was also created. The solidarity group organises a lot of activities. For example, the older kids formed a group to help the youngest at school. It is a support group for school children who want to change in some way and improve the way they live.
There is also a library called Li-brote [The Big Book] which was founded on the 24th of March. This date is not a coincidence. On the 24th of March, 1976, there was the coup d'etat, which was terrible. We wanted to create life on a date which means death for so many.
Dario, group co-ordinator
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