Braille

          My week with Braille

          Normally if someone were to ask me “What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?” I’d probably say learning a language, completing a triathlon, or performing difficult repertoire.  Now I have a new one to add to the list, Braille.  This past week, I spent my mornings in Barquisimeto learning how to read and write Braille, the alphabet, numbers, and musical notation.  My most successful sentence thus far was THIS IS HARD. 

Some of my Braille work

            When writing Braille, you actually move from right to left; however, you read from left to write.  It’s fascinatingly difficult yet I really enjoyed it!  The students would check my work usually followed by a laugh and the very occasional- good job.  Every day I’d arrive at the núcleo and the teachers would ask, “So what did you learn last night?”  After showing them my work, I’d go back downstairs and begin again.  The more comfortable I became with the Braille (and I still have a long ways to go) the more I began to think about capability.  Just how much can we accomplish when we realize what were truly capable of?  Being in the special needs program these past weeks; I began to see how every single child is encouraged to reach his or her potential.  Most students not only sing but they play, compose, and arrange.  There are no limitations.  Almost every student is involved in several ensembles even down to the teachers.  Everyone is always learning.  I had the chance to talk with one of the students in the Manos Blancas choir after a rehearsal on Thursday.  That past week, I’d not only seen him sing, but also accompany and improvise on piano with the rhythm band.   As I began to talk with him, he said, “Oh I’m not a pianist.”  I laughed and responded, “But you play in two ensembles?”  He smiled and answered, “well yes but I’m a composer first.”  Let me also just add, he was one of my mentors in learning Braille as he is blind as well.  The students are unstoppable.  In fact I don’t even know if the words, no you can’t or we’ll get to that repertoire later even exist.      

            It was a pattern that I began to see every day in the núcelo.  Students writing musical compositions in one night, learning Mahler 1, first movement in a day, and being proficient at least three instruments.  It’s inspiring.  As I continue my Braille studies back in the United States, I’m going to think of my mentors here in Venezuela.  Because they showed me that limitation truly only exist in our minds and once we let go of doubt, we truly find our capability.  Yet also for reminding me that this is truly on the beginning.