Sound of Music, Sound of Hope

Louie begins teaching his son Nicque how to play the guitar shortly before Louie passed away.

A Hope Center program to spread hope to kids in poverty all started when a little boy there, Nicqui, asked his father Louie to teach him how to play the guitar.

Granting his child’s request, Louie sat down with him one day and began teaching him to play.

But in a very unexpected twist of fate, Louie passed away the next day. Sadly, their time together with a guitar was their first and last.

Louie, however, left his family with an example of how God can transform a life.

Louie used to get into a lot of trouble. But when he came to know God, he became passionate about sharing God’s Word with people in his community.

Nicque practices on his guitar.

His love for children was so deep that he always shared ideas about helping them thrive. When Louie died, he left a legacy and a promise, which Nicqui’s Child Champions at Sapangdaku Hope Center in the Philippines carry on today.

As part of the Hope Center’s intervention for helping a child during a hard time, a Child Champion volunteered to continue teaching Nicqui how to play the guitar during weekends.

Eventually, several other children began to show an interest in music after watching Nicqui. After about a month, Child Champions formalized these gatherings into a program they call Kwerdas ng Paglaum, which translates to Strings of Hope, a fitting name for how it came to be.

Faith, music teacher at the Hope Center, teaches kids of all ages how to play musical instruments.

Kwerdas ng Paglaum is an alternative learning activity to complement children’s holistic growth.

It aims to train music-loving kids to play musical instruments in the hope that one day, they will become musicians for Jesus to spread the message of hope.

In this program, children learn to play guitar, piano, and drums.

Faith, who is a music teacher, spends her afternoon gathering the kids in their neighborhood at the Hope Center to show them how to play musical instruments. She brings her guitars and even a ukulele for smaller kids to play.

Other kids flock around them to listen, igniting their natural interest in music as well.

Nicqui eventually learned to play the guitar and was able to showcase his talent, together with his friends at the Hope Center, during their Children’s Month Celebration.

Though Nicqui’s father is gone, his Child Champions stood by him to help him continue learning music and continue dreaming.

Now that he knows how to play the guitar, we hope his music reaches heaven and makes his father smile.

Empower Child Champions to be there for kids living in poverty in their times of need. Sponsor a child today!