The joy of teaching music to Special Kids

Victor Castillo is a Chaplain, musician, director of the worship team of the Cristo Vive Church in Miami, and instructor at the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, a project where people with special needs, in the visual part, learn music.

In conversation with Learning To Live and La Nueva 88.3 he told that, as part of his daily work, he gives musical instruction to people who do not see, or who do not see well, so that “they can have a space where they can entertain themselves, where they can make music, where they can be instructed and be inserted into society”.

He added that they seek to allow these people to fulfill their dreams. “Working in that place changed my life completely, because one becomes a more sensitive person, to the issue of special needs, that is a call from God, to serve others, but to serve them with love, regardless of their condition” he emphasized.

To break the ice with his new students, this instructor usually asks them what is your favorite song? A question that triggers interaction.

He explains that immediately afterwards he begins to interpret the melody mentioned by the student, to generate empathy and invites them to imitate what he is doing, “and then some begin to hesitate, but they try, there are some who do have more knowledge, but most of them always try and the desire to learn arises”.

Castillo emphasizes that, when they manage to play their first melody, the satisfaction and the children’s expression of happiness “is priceless”.

The program that this musician directs caters to youngsters between the ages of 12 and 18, but he points out that Miami Lighthouse has a variety of programs, some of them even for adults. For more information, he recommended visiting the website www.miamilighthouse.org.

Victor, besides being a teacher, is a worship director and in this regard he commented that before starting his work he gives all his concerns and needs to God, he adds that “something incredible happens, it is when everything is broken and you feel free and calm, in that peace that surpasses all understanding, one does not understand it, but feels it and lives it, and as you feel it and live it you can give it”.

He affirms that the best or most effective praise arises “when you allow the Holy Spirit of God to flow through you, or through a musical instrument, or voices, so that people connect with God, in that moment miracles, prodigies and wonders happen”.

He explained that music has the capacity to cause happiness, but happiness without God is fleeting, while happiness with God is joy. He concluded by pointing out that “happiness is
temporary and joy is eternal and does not depend on circumstances”.

Víctor Castillo