Allen playing violin
They always say that people who are disabled in some way tend to have another sense heightened. I have found that many of the kids at Bethel are very musically talented. Bethel is very special because they make music a very big part of the kids’ lives. They have a music teacher, Ms. Lu who is also blind and teaches the kids everything from singing, to piano, to traditional Chinese instruments like Gu Zheng. They also have the Bethel Choir and the kids in the choir travel all over Beijing to perform, and have even been featured on national television!
This afternoon, I found a bunch of violins while I was wandering around the music room. Ms. Lu told me that a few years ago, a volunteer brought them here and taught some of the kids violin when she was here. However, after she left, the kids didn’t have anyone to teach them anymore, so the violins have just been sitting there. So I decided to pull them out, fix them up a little, tune them and see if the kids still remembered some.
I handed it to Michael and surprisingly, he still remembered how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!
Vincent playing a toy flute that has piano-like keys
Michael playing Edelweiss on piano