Amazon Lutheran School Workshop – OELA

Lutheria na Amazônia – Sons da Floresta

Teaching youth in the Amazon how to make, maintain and restore musical instruments with forest materials

OELA was founded by a luthier who was committed to the Amazon peoples and the preservation of natural resources. A native of Amapá, he created alternatives to change the lives of children and adolescents in the Zumbi dos Palmares neighborhood in Manaus, where basic education, health, safety, leisure, and sanitation services are lacking.

OELA is a reference center for the development of critical-thinking citizens, who are engaged and committed to sustainability. It is the first school in the world to receive FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification for social and environmental responsibility. In recent years, OELA has assisted 15,000 people through educational, income generation and public policy programs. The project will train young people to produce musical instruments, encouraging protagonism in teaching the art of lutherie and the responsible, sustainable use and management of the region’s natural resources.

With support from BrazilFoundation, the project will provide:

• Provide professional training for 20 adolescents and youth in the construction, restoration, and maintenance of musical instruments;
• Offer psychosocial counseling to strengthen bonds between the youth and family members;
• Obtain FSC-certification for the production of musical instruments.

Impact

Trained youth who will spread the art of lutherie
Entrepreneurs will be able to set up their own businesses
Youth aware of the responsibility of rational forest resource use

“OELA is refining a culture of education geared towards social transformation which must be built considering all the dimensions of the lives of adolescents and youth.” – OELA team