In El Salvador, hundreds of thousands of children face vulnerability to gang recruitment, labor exploitation and corrupt police forces’ unreasonable detainment. The dropout rate for the first year of high school, around age 16, surged dramatically from 7.6% in 2019 to 31% in 2022. In the same year, the Central American University of El Salvador found that 37% of 25-year-olds who did not complete primary education experience poverty. Without stability, whether through the routine of school or financial security, gangs lure children into recruitment. Reports have recorded La Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, promising improved clothing, shoes and even cigars, in exchange for unyielding loyalty.

With the help of global nongovernmental organization (NGO) Musicians Without Borders, Salvadoran children are discovering pathways away from gang influence through music. Whether for stress relief or to boost self-confidence, music provides a way to interpret the complex feelings that arise in one’s developing years. Furthermore, a study from the National Library of Medicine demonstrates the positive correlation between a long-term commitment to music and educational achievement. Creative outlets offer a crucial alternative for those at risk, demonstrating music’s ability to break cycles of poverty and reduce gang recruitment in El Salvador.

Musicians Without Borders

Dutch-American musician and peace activist Laura Hassler founded Musicians Without Borders in 1999. Alongside a group of talented musicians, Hassler traveled to refugee camps in Kosovo, believing music has the power to engender positive change. Observing the transformative effects of community, Musicians Without Borders registered as an NGO a year later. The group currently partners with local organizations in six different countries, though their reach spans the globe.

Musicians Without Borders customizes its peacemaking tools to fit the demands and social context of each partnership. They offer training programs for music leadership founded upon three pillars: practical working principles (safety, inclusion, etc.), principles of nonviolence and the positive, holistic effects of music.

Additionally, individualized band coaching fosters creative thinking and collaborative skills between peers. Music therapy improves not just mental health, but physical, cognitive and social health.

In El Salvador, Musicians Without Borders partners with two different community-based organizations: Armonia Cuscatleca and Soy Música. These partnerships are essential to their strategy to reduce gang recruitment in El Salvador.

Armonia Cuscatleca

Inspired by his work with the Harmony Project, Salvadoran-American musician Pablo Méndez Granadino decided to take action. In 2015, he founded a music education program in his hometown of San Pedro Perulapan, a municipality in central El Salvador. Since 2017, Musicians Without Borders has partnered with the program, enabling them to grow their lessons beyond San Pedro Perulapan.

Armonia Cuscatleca welcomes all children, providing music lessons and safe spaces for rehearsals. Through participation, children comfortably develop their artistic identities, strengthen their work ethic and boost self-esteem. Many people are unaware of music’s ability to change lives. In a study of students in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Germany, 50% of those surveyed dropped out of music lessons by the age of 17. However, in El Salvador, people are dedicating time and energy to cultivating rewarding habits and reducing gang recruitment. Armonia Cuscatleca has touched the lives of 214 children since 2015, and held 650 classes, rehearsals and concerts each year.

Soy Música

Launched in 2017, Soy Música is a collaborative initiative between United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Salvadoran Ministry of Education and Musicians Without Borders. The program aimed to train a strong team of educators and community leaders and develop a context-specific music leadership curriculum. Between 2017 and 2022, Soy Música introduced its methodology to more than a thousand educators across the country. The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it mobility challenges and limited student access, yet Soy Música adapted its learning model by creating engaging children’s television, curated by local trainers.

Soy Música has trained 626 educators since its opening, nurturing leadership skills based on nonviolent principles. In addition, more than 61,000 children have been reached through music. This impact is particularly critical given the goal to reduce gang recruitment in El Salvador. Ultimately, Soy Música’s innovative approach reinforces music’s profound ability to unite communities and cultivate a foundation for lasting peaceful coexistence across the country.

Despite the profound vulnerabilities children in El Salvador continue to face, the work of Musicians Without Borders and its local partners highlights an important pathway to positive development through music. In 2023, one in five Salvadorans was between 15 and 24 years old. Demographically, El Salvador has the potential to reap the rewards of a determined, talented youth community. In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), music-related “soft skills,” like leadership, problem-solving and patience, are incredibly valuable to employers.

By providing an alternative to gang involvement, community, peace and artistic appreciation guide children to flourish. Music helps children build lives they define on their own terms, instead of the cycles of violence they may be fighting against. Due to the hard work of these organizations and the power of music, those cycles may one day be broken.

– Julia Sanders

Julia is based in Fitchburg, WI, USA and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Pixnio