STIRLING, Scotland, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- An impoverished Scottish neighborhood is adopting a Venezuelan program that has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children though music.
The city of Stirling is sponsoring a five-year program based on El Sistema, "the System," which for the last 32 years has offered free music lessons to children living in the violent slums of Venezuela, The Times of London reported Monday.
Families from the Raploch neighborhood in Stirling are to be on hand Friday when the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, El Sistema's main orchestra, performs at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Mechelle Kerr, 32, a mother of three, said the program could work miracles in Raploch, where parents are afraid to let their children play outside.
"There’s nothing for the bairns at that age except the swing park, and that's full of 14-year-olds drinking," Kerr said.
The Scottish pilot, backed by the National Arts Council and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, will be tried elsewhere in Scotland if successful in Stirling.
