I was called to help at a learning center. The director presented me the project, full of kids, and asked: “How can you help, Manuel?”
I said I could be a music teacher. My goal was to make the kids experience the synergy of playing music together — to create a children's orchestra from zero.
It was always a big dream of mine. Now, it was time to take on this new challenge.
The next day, I was invited to visit the center and meet the children. They showed me some instruments that were scattered in different corners of the building, unused and collecting dust.
The director told me I could gather them and bring them to the main hall, but I felt we needed a proper space — somewhere to keep and honor the instruments, and build a real musical environment.
That’s when I asked if I could use an abandoned classroom that was being used as a storage room. I proposed to turn it into a music class. They agreed, so I got to work.
I started cleaning, moving things, organizing — playing Tetris with all the stuff the room had. Slowly, the energy changed. Once the space was ready and all the instruments were in place, the room came alive.
It had officially become a music classroom.
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Teaching & Volunteering
One group of six kids was already waiting for me — Class 4.
I couldn’t say no, so I just smiled and said:
“Well… let’s improvise.”
That’s when I introduced myself for the first time —
I knew from the beginning they weren't going to be easy to manage, so I showed a strong character.
I was strict, but at the same time fun and interesting — and somehow, I had their full attention from the very start.So there I was, without any preparation, improvising music classes with the kids — dancing, playing instruments, drumming, singing, all sorts of different activities.
The director liked how I was working, so he asked me if I could get the entire school to sing every morning before classes started.
I couldn’t say no — so I grabbed a guitar and started teaching songs to the whole school to begin each day with music.
Each day was full of all kinds of emotions — frustration, anger, joy, fun, laughter.
Working with those kids took a lot of energy, but I was completely immersed in it, putting my whole heart into what I was doing, because deep down I knew it was something healing and meaningful for them.
As days went by, I started discovering hidden talents in each class. The kids got excited every time I walked into their classroom — they truly enjoyed the music.
My time there was coming to an end, so we decided to prepare a concert. Each class performed a different song or musical idea in front of the whole school and some invited guests.
That’s where the real magic happened — all the classes performed beautifully, creating a concert that touched everyone.
It was hard to see some kids crying, knowing it was my last day at the learning center.
But deep inside, I knew I had left my heart in that place.
And even though I taught them music, I truly believe I learned more from them than they did from me.How to work as a team, to learn to listen to each other, to build an orchestra without any prior knowledge of music.
How to be respectful to one another, the importance of silence, and how music can heal people.
This experience brought a huge change within me.
I couldn’t be more grateful to have been part of it.
Ready for next Challenge
Contact me for a Human Healing Experience with Music
Email:mugicadcmanuel@gmail.com
Phone: +44 7907 961920