Six year old, Luis had gone to buy some buns from a shop when he noticed a poor child begging for something to eat. The shopkeeper rudely shoved him away. He was impacted by the realisation that money determined the survival of a human being. If not for the capacity of his parents, he could have been the poor kid.
Luis opted for the profession of medicine but his passion was in music. While studying and practicing medicine in England, he became involved in amateur orchestras. During a music festival in England, he found two orchestras that comprised of street children - One from Venezuela and other from South Africa.
Luis found the teenagers could match skills with the adult experts playing alongside them. One of the boys, Samson, told him that music had saved his life… had he not been given that violin, he would have instead had a gun or knife or an injection and he would have been dead. Luis decided this was a good way of saving lives.
Dr Luis & Chryselle Dias came back to Goa and started their initiative - Child’s Play (India) Foundation along the lines of the Venezuelan movement. The task was not easy… from getting instruments to motivating children to paying salaries for teachers to organising performances. Their choirs and orchestra are noteworthy not only for their music but also for giving purpose to so many children.
The greatest gift is to give dignity to the human personality, especially young children who live in the worst of circumstances. Luis and Chryselle have shown how the future of our world can be nurtured to scale the melody of life. Their motto says it so well: ‘because every child is noteworthy’. We have to match the proactive empathy of the Dias couple and commit to adding value to their noteworthy initiative.
Indeed every personality is noteworthy
Only if we can contribute with empathy!
Pravin da
Check out more about the noteworthy initiative at www.childsplayindia.org
