Photos of me taking the guitars out of the original wholesaler's shipping boxes (which we later used as cases). (July 4, 2010)
The guitars came in different sizes, but all the same color. They were made in China, they had a JSL Imports brand name on the box and on each guitar label. I don't know their exact origin (city or factory).
My own production company, Spaceship Earth Productions, purchased twenty-one guitars and paid for freight from Houston, Texas.
The Centro Arte para la Paz reimbursed me for the duties ("impuestos") they charged at the airport.
The Centro Arte is a project whose mission is to promote peace through art and education training. It is run by Peggy O'Neill, Sister of Charity. Berty Rivas is the General Administrator.
They are wonderful people and it is a stable organization with beautiful facilities In addition to hosting the workshop, they will also be maintaining and storing the guitars for future use, as well as checking out instruments to qualified students and families.
All told there were twenty-one nylon string guitars. Nine full size, eight mediums (3/4 size), two smalls (2/3 size) and two extra-smalls (1/2 size).
The duties were quite expensive, as they were about 27% of value of the guitars ($497) PLUS the freight expense ($548). I later found out that it could have been possible to have the duties dismissed.
Here are the guitars all out and enjoying the lovely view of the patio at the Centro Arte para la Paz.
In order to have the duties dismissed the donation must be officially approved by the national government in advance. This involves requesting or writing all the letters of recommendation and other paperwork required, then petitioning the appropriate government agencies for the donation of the instruments to be officially approved.
Later Sister Peggy O'Neill, the director of Centro Arte, told me that even with letters of approval of the receiving organization, the local mayor, governor and/or parliament members, and all the proper paperwork filed in advance (the minister of customs we spoke to recommended six to nine months in advance), there is no guarantee that the letter of "duty dismissal" would actually sway the office workers at the cargo terminal at the airport.
So even though it was an extra $313 expense, in the eyes of the receiving organization, it was far more convenient and efficient to simply pay the import duties than to go through the rigmarole I have described, only to still face the risk of being denied at every possible step.
Tuning the guitars (21 x 6 strings), that took a while!
Plus all the full size guitars had metal strings on them (that's how they had been shipped to Houston, the wholesaler said "Everyone who buys them prefers metal strings!"). So I had to remove strings on the nine full sized guitars, and replace them with nylon strings.
For this project my music company Spaceship Earth Productions had very minimal costs: 22 guitars at $26 ea. purchase price in Houston + $27 ea. freight cost to San Salvador = $53 and change per guitar.
The first day of class! Eighteen eager students that day had signed up in advance. (July 5, 2010)
For the children and teenagers the class size varied from 12 to 28. Almost every day new students would show up to take the class, and if they were not disruptive, they had a friend to help tutor them, and there was a guitar available, I let them attend. Some of the latecomers actually learned all of our pieces, passed the performance exam and played on the final concert.Originally the plan had been to have two classes for young people per day and one evening class for the local community, but the morning class only had one student so I asked him to come to the evening class which was attended by young people and local adults.
More photos from subsequent days follow. Evening class photos are somewhat obvious as the lighting is somewhat dim.
The Centro Arte has great facilities, rooms, chairs, whiteboard, fresh water (and coffee : ) and, now, guitars, but there were only 4 working music stands and no footstools whatsoever. This meant I taught Flamenco guitar sitting position, right leg crossed over left, guitar on its side on the right leg. This provides for good, comfortable, natural, "mid-range" angles for both the left and right wrists. Also if the student sits up straight he/she can see the fret board or the right hand with no problems...
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