these will move you

Two things from my previous Sunday evening tv watching. Some of you might have seen these. You will know what I meant by "move".

The first is the Venezuelan National Orchestra, and the power of classical music and the power of human compassion and perseverance. This musical group is comprised of children from the slums (starting at age 2) and is (now) sponsored by the government, organized by one man, and admired by many, all over the world. This doctor who started the group in the 1970s has built a huge orchestra of energetic (and desperate) children who start playing an instrument as early as age 4. They grow up in poverty, in REAL poverty (the kind we have no clue about) and some of them are from gangs with little hope to reform and become something in their violent, and pitiful world. They play with such vehemence, as if to cry their escape or salvation from the nothingness in which they were born. One can only understand this if experienced or at least has seen the lives of these people. It's barely human... music, however, is passionate, sad, happy, cheerful and energetic, it is without borders and boundaries and limits and restrictions. It is mastering emotions and sending them off through one's fingertips and delivering it to the world in a harmonized sound. Music is power and this power has been given to these kids by one man, whose dream is now a multibillion dollar project, self supportive and widely successful! They have become the symbol of hope and the tiny bright light in their dark alleys. They recruit and teach their kids and make some of their own instruments. They give hope and life back to the destitute. They are real heroes.

The second one is one hopeless man who found, rather, created hope for all man kind. John Kanzius, indeed. Just read about him and judge for yourself: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/10/60minutes/main4006951.shtml