Hero is a big word. It brings up lots of ideas of daring and dangerous rescues, of people with superpowers or special abilities or incredible athletic talent. Maybe it brings up images of people who have defied great odds to fight injustice, but it almost always brings up an image of someone who seems a little bigger than human. Every once in a while you meet a person who seems ordinary but is actually so extraordinary that the word applies.
On my first trip to Belize I met such a man. We had been in country for less than a week when this beautiful man came to play drums for our group of students. It's kind of challenging to describe what it's like to watch Emmeth drum. It's like he becomes a part of the music. He ceases to be just Emmeth and is absolutely one with God. I've seen him limbo while still drumming. I've seen him wrap one leg around his drum and hop around wailing away, seemingly defying gravity. Now, there are a lot of really amazing drummers in the world, including ones for whom it is a deeply spiritual experience.
Takes more than that to hit the hero mark. Indeed, he has lots more to offer. Every time he plays for a student group he shares the story of the origins of the village he grew up in, Gales Point Manatee. It was founded by runaway slaves who allegedly killed their masters and made drums from their skins. They hid away in a remote little peninsula in the Southern Lagoon, a few miles from the coast. There they maintained their traditions and stories they had brought over from West Africa. Of course slaves were not allowed to maintain any of their traditions, particularly a powerful one like drumming. So Gales Point is the only Kriol village where the African traditions survived. And Emmeth is on a mission to keep as many of those traditions alive as he can. He even tried to get the women to teach him basket weaving, but they won't because he's a man. Unfortunately, there are only a couple of younger ones who are interested to learn the old ways, and as the elders die, the knowledge is lost.
Emmeth makes every single one of his drums in the traditional way with hand tools. He can cook amazing traditional food, and he knows how to make a traditional dugout canoe from a single tree. He even found someone to teach him about Obea Magic. And of course he knows all the old songs and all the old stories. He's a cultural hero, and this would be enough to make him so, but there's more.
Drum building
His newest drum
The kids in the village started to notice that he was traveling around Belize playing music and making pretty decent money. They also started to notice that he often had a lot of visitors who were paying to stay with him or learn how to drum or build a drum. A lot of people were buying his drums. At the same time Emmeth started to notice that kids were going off to Belize city and getting in all kinds of trouble. Drugs, gang violence, and HIV took nearly an entire generation from that village. As he watched kids getting involved younger and younger, he decided to teach them to drum and then take them to some of the shows. Those invited to play at the shows all earn money, no matter how young they are. They learn a skill, gain a spiritual outlet, and make a little money all at the same time.
The drum school was still a relatively new thing when they hit a particularly rough patch in the village. Three youth from the village died in the space of a month from gun violence. Emmeth was devastated, and he heard himself say that what these kids needed was drums, not guns. There an incredible organization was born. Drums Not Guns is now going in several locations in Belize providing kids with community, mentors, an outlet, and a potential source of income. He has been a mentor and friend for countless children over the years, teaching them to respect each other and themselves, to care for their bodies and spirits, and to carry on the traditions of their ancestors proudly. He also feeds them healthy, traditional food each week. He does all this with no charge to these kids.
Last year he was presented with the opportunity to go to Guinea, West Africa and study with several drumming masters. I set up a gofundme, and we managed to raise enough money to make it happen. He left in January and will be there until June. The campaign is still going, and he will need more to sustain himself for the remainder of the trip. If you feel called to give, here's the link. His mission for this trip when he began was to reconnect with his roots in the land of his ancestors and learn new rhythms and stories to bring back to the youth of Belize. He is now hoping to record an album with some of the amazing musicians there, many of whom he considers as family. The proceeds from the album will be used to fund an exchange where teachers from Guinea would periodically come to Belize to teach, and some of the youth of Belize would also be given the opportunity to go to Guinea. This will of course require a little more money. I will be sharing the payout from this post with him, and we will also be pushing the gofundme and raising the goal. So, if you want to share that link or reblog this post, it is all very appreciated and will go to truly one of the most generous and beautiful people I have ever known. A true hero.
Emmeth with some of his teachers
His newest performing outfit
Just a couple weeks ago, a rising Drums Not Guns star was shot dead in the streets of Belize City. Only 12 years old, he was one of the most promising young drummers to come through the program. Emmeth was, of course, devastated. In fact at least half the nation mourned. The violence, especially in Belize City, has just gotten worse and worse, so we will be upping our efforts. We're even planning a Peace Festival. As the police force sits idly by, we will continue spreading peace, love, acceptance, opportunity, and music.
Rest in power, sweet boy
All pictures are Emmeth's and used with his permission
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