PEOPLE

Music in the Time of War

Ex-Mar Vista woman volunteers with Ukrainian children

By Summer Aguirre

For some, volunteering abroad is a once-in-alifetime experience. But for composer and music teacher Liz Shropshire, this is her life’s calling. Shropshire, 60, formerly of Mar Vista, has dedicated her life to bringing the power and joy of music to children and youth in conflict zones around the world. Over the past 23 years, she and her nonprofit organization, the Shropshire Music Foundation, have transformed the lives of over 20,000 children through 95,000 classes and counting. In response to the war in Ukraine, this summer she is initiating a full-scale music program for Ukrainian refugees in Poland. “I'm going crazy, I'm nervous, I'm excited. I haven’t traveled for two years because of COVID,” Shropshire said before she left. “I'm anxious to get out in the field and get back to what I've been doing, mostly.” Through the Shropshire Music Foundation, of which Shropshire is the executive director, she has brought music education to refugee camps and war zones in Kosovo, Uganda, Northern Ireland, Bangladesh and Greece. Most recently, she taught hundreds of hours of music classes to Afghan families in the Phoenix area over the past year. The programs cultivate hope and help refugees develop resilience and problem-solving skills, as well as give them a positive emotional outlet. In Ukraine, the foundation is working with a Poland-based volunteer group who has been running refugee camps in hotels and expo centers. Shropshire and one of the foundation’s board members, Tre Hulme, are living in a hotel-turned-shelter with refugees while initiating a music program for the children. “One of the things that is unique about us is that we don't take in a big team,” said Shropshire, who now lives in Litchfield Park, Arizona. “Our goal always is to set up a program run by local volunteers.” The foundation partners with local organizations in the countries in which it operates. Shropshire first helps establish the music programs, and once they’re self-sustainable, the foundation continues to support them through advanced training visits and staying connected online. The foundation hasn’t had the funding to hire employees and Shropshire doesn’t want to leave locals without a program once volunteers leave. To fix this, she involves local teenagers, who also help with language barriers. “We ended up with 40 teenagers in Kosovo running our program,” she said. “Not only teaching the classes to the children, but writing lessons and writing reports afterward, meeting for training five times a week, talking about what was going on in their classes and helping each other out.” They teach the children simple instruments, including ukulele, harmonica, pennywhistle and drums. On her trip to Poland, Shropshire brought “mobile teacher

San Tan’s MaryEllen Simmons, who creates the foundation’s teacher bags for free.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LIZ SHROPSHIRE

kits,” which are shoulder bags that hold supplies needed to teach music anywhere. Each bag carries a double-sided whiteboard, notebooks, pencil cases, writing utensils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, tuners and Shropshire’s music books. The bags are made with water-resistant material that the foundation purchases but are all created for free by Arizonan MaryEllen Simmons. She even designed special bags in the colors of the Ukrainian flag for the occasion. Depending on the state of the war, Shropshire will make a couple month-long trips to Poland until the middle of September before a possible return in January. Shropshire’s vocation and the birth of her foundation are rooted in her upbringing and passion for music. Hailing from Lemoore, she has lived in many places, due to her father’s 30-year career as a naval aviator. “My dad was flying missions over Vietnam my whole childhood, which is probably why I'm so drawn to work with children that are impacted by war,” she said. Shropshire earned her undergraduate degree in music composition and theory from Brigham Young University, prior to attending the University of Southern California for her advanced studies graduate degree in composition for the music industry. She moved on to a career composing music for film until 1999, when she was 37 years old and living in Mar Vista. Initially, she wanted to work in the music industry, but soon discovered it wasn’t for her. “For me, personally, it just wasn't the best fit,” Shropshire said. “I loved the work, but I just didn't feel like I was really having the impact that I wanted to with my life.” While heavily teaching on the side, she overheard news about the Kosovo War and was immediately intrigued by the idea of volunteering as an aid worker. Instead of backpacking in Switzerland that summer like she had planned, Shropshire used her plane ticket to join a volunteer group in Kosovo for a few weeks. She brought eight duffel bags with about $5,000 worth of instruments that she collected from fundraising and connecting with instrument manufacturers. The three-week trip to Kosovo morphed into a six-week stay, and it only took a couple days there for her to realize that helping war-affected children through music was her life’s mission. Shropshire developed the

Liz Shropshire teaching at an Internally Displaced Persons camp in Uganda, 2007.

music program that became her model, teaching children how to play simple instruments and training teenagers in refugee camps, homeless shelters and bombed-out schools. She worked with children who suffered from PTSD. When she arrived, they exhibited low self-esteem and often attacked adults, played with weapons and re-enacted executions and other atrocities. “I thought I was taking these instruments to help the kids forget about the war for just a few minutes every day and open something again after losing everything,” she said. “Instead, I saw kids completely change.” Children who originally wouldn’t make eye contact were suddenly participating and playing instruments in class, enjoying themselves so much that they were moved to tears upon Shropshire’s departure — something she had never seen. They had lost their fear and anger through the music. The youth also undergo a transformation once immersed in the program. “They go from teenagers who feel like nothing that they do matters, to being teenagers that know that they're making a difference,” Shropshire said. “It's absolutely amazing.” She added that the youth commit their lives to making good choices all on their own, a feat in conflict zones since cigarettes, drugs and other substances are easily accessible post war. In addition to a decrease in trauma symptoms, a statement detailing the documented results of the program showcases a significant increase of high school completion and college attendance rates. Shropshire said that such statistics are “unheard of” in the countries where the foundation works. “Our first kids that I worked with in Kosovo 23 years ago are now adults. They’re teachers, engineers, doctors, they’re parents,” she said. “They're amazing and it's been phenomenal to see them.” “I just can't believe that I'm so blessed to get to do this with my life,” she added. As the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues, Shropshire urges Americans to be open and kind if they encounter a refugee. “No one chooses to become a refugee. When you become a refugee, you become a number, and it's a horrible experience,” she said. She explained that refugees go from being doctors, lawyers or teachers in their home countries, only to arrive in a foreign nation and find themselves lucky to snag minimum wage-paying jobs. “These are amazing people. So just be kind if you see a refugee, reach out to them and say, ‘Hi, welcome to America,’” she said. “They're only here because it's not safe for them, and especially, it's not safe for their children.” She recommends nonprofit Gathering Humanity as a way to help refugees in Arizona. The organization is devoted to setting up apartments with furniture and supplies from donors for refugees. More information can be found at gatheringhumanity.org. To learn more about the Shropshire Music Foundation or to donate to the organization, visit shropshirefoundation. org.”