Guatemalans and Mexicans form band to give back to community
The B.C. Catholic
A seniors’ residence in Delta is receiving visits from an unlikely troupe of performers.
Farm workers from Guatemala and Mexico, who spend long hours working on nearby farms, have begun playing music for their elderly neighbours.
“I’m grateful that God gave me the talents to play three instruments. I love music,” said Selvin Ordonez, in Spanish.
Ordonez, who plays bass guitar, drums, and keyboard, left his home in Guatemala to work on Lower Mainland farms for one year and earn money to help his family back home.
Like many foreign workers, Ordonez sought out a community to cling to while away from home. He got connected to Sacred Heart Parish in Ladner, which offers migrant workers rides to Mass, sacraments in Spanish, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and help in understanding their rights.
Next door to the church is Augustine House, a seniors’ residence built in 2003 with the help of the Knights of Columbus on land donated by Augustinian monks.
When Ordonez found out he could give back to the church community and the elderly by doing something he loved, he jumped at the opportunity.
“I play for a Catholic music ministry” in Guatemala, he said. “I have this skill that God gave me and I feel that it’s important that I share that with others.”
Ordonez and several other Guatemalans and Mexicans got together to practise and put on a small concert for the seniors. A local man stepped in to provide all the instruments.
“We really wanted to form part of this group and be able to bring these songs to the elderly,” said Guatemalan farmer Laureano Sen in Spanish.
Farm workers like Sen who had never played musical instruments in their lives each received a percussion instrument and a short lesson on how to play it.
“We don’t have that many opportunities to be part of something,” said Israel Rabinal, also from Guatemala. “When we received the invitation, we were really happy and joined the group.”
Rosario Musso, a member of Sacred Heart migrant ministry and a translator, said farm workers often feel isolated.
“They stay here for one year. It’s a long time” to be away from home. “These kinds of activities help them to feel part of the community and also to give back to the community.”
The six-member band plays Christian songs and ballads in the rhythms of merengue and cumbia, she said. Though their elderly audience doesn’t understand the Spanish lyrics, they are glad to clap and dance along to the beat.
“Many of them have had the opportunity to go to Mexico or even also Guatemala. They like the Latin music and the rhythms,” Musso said.
For other seniors, “It was the first time they had been exposed to this kind of music.”
Those Augustine House residents might know that the bus they use for day trips is also the one Sacred Heart’s farm-worker ministry borrows to transport the men to and from Mass.
“If it wasn’t for that bus, we wouldn’t be able to get them all here for Mass,” said Musso.
“When we were saying goodbye (to the seniors) and hope to return next year, they said: ‘We don’t want next year. We want this year!'”
The group played at Augustine House for the first time this July and were invited back for an encore in August. They look forward to another concert soon.
