Juan Manuel Santos, KU Alumnus and Kansan of the Year

LJWorld.com weblogs New Ideas, New Possibilities

Posted by Lawrence Morgan January 2, 2013 at 11:27 p.m.

Nick Krug photograph by Lawrence Morgan

Juan Manuel Santos, President of the Country of Columbia

In the above photograph of Juan Manuel Santos, which was taken by Nick Krug, we see a remarkable man. He has every right to be Kansan of the Year. How many of these commentators have taken over a country plagued so long by civil war. He has accomplished many things since being President, including a law being passed to compensate the victims of the long-running civil conflict, and returning land to millions of displaced people.

But I want to focus on another accomplishment, less talked about, in which he has had a part and which is important for thousands (47,000) of school children: school orchestras. The school orchestra movement began in Venezula, and it has now spread to several other South American countries, including Columbia. This is one of many accomplishments, less spoken of, since he became President.

Listen to the following article:

http://playingforchange.com/journey/musicians/124/Orquesta_Sinf_nica_Juvenil_Batuta

and now enjoy the following video:

http://playingforchange.com/episodes/53/La_Tierra_del_Olvido

Some people, including many of the people in these commentaries, could care less about music. But I feel very differently. In my opinion, music is just as important as sports and computers. In music, like sports, each person learns to listen to the other, so that the whole group works as a whole.

How many such orchestras do we have in Kansas?

I'm going to include my other blogs which deal with school orchestras in different countries below. If you have not had a chance to hear them, you might enjoy them now.

http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/kansas-150th-birthday-is-almost-over/2012/dec/30/death-of-ravi-shankar-and-the-birth-in-s/

http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/kansas-150th-birthday-is-almost-over/2012/aug/23/symphony-orchestra-in-the-congo-orchestr/

There is much more to Juan Manual Santos on the internet. But he is changing Columbia, and he is instituting changes which will help thousands of children with school orchestras. I only wish the Governor of Kansas could undertake similar changes in his own state!