Development & Aid, Environment, Tierramerica

Katia Cardenal:: “Soften your heart”

MANAGUA, Feb 17 2003 (IPS) - The strong connection that Nicaraguan singer-songwriter Katia Cardenal feels with nature has been evident since 1979, when at age 16 she began a musical career with her brother Salvador in the duo Guardabarranco, named after the country's emblematic bird.

Since then, she has been inspired by childhood and the different facets of love in expressing her message, which “seeks to soften people's hearts”, she said in a conversation with Tierramérica. Last year, after four years of following solo careers, Guardabarranco returned to the stage and the recording studio.

“There are still days ahead to love the Earth you inhabit,” says Cardenal in one of her songs, convinced that individuals can change the destiny of society.

Q: Have we turned our backs on the planet? A: Yes. Unfortunately the leaders we elect do not respond to the interests of all, but rather to the interests of very specific groups. And this is going to mean that the wealth in the hands of a few and the misery of the rest of the world in the long term will hurt us all.

Q: How is nature present in your music? A: The song, which is also a natural form of expression, can serve to recover the love of the house in which we live, which is everything that surrounds us: plants, animals, the moon, the sea… all elements which bring us closer to ourselves.

Q: Can songs influence the decisions made by governments? A: That's pretty ambitious, but I think if one plants a seed in fertile ground, it can bear fruit, even if it's over the long term. Perhaps some politician or someone with the opportunity to make a change in the community can be touched by the words of a song. My seven-year-old son told me about a TV program about life on Mars and how we might someday grow food on that planet. I told him it would be better to try to preserve what we already have.

Q: How was the experience of participating in the documentary “Metal y vidrio” (Metal and Glass), about children who work in a garbage dump? A: I immediately focused on that project because I feel a deep sadness, as a human being and as a mother, at seeing the conditions in which some children live. But I enjoyed taking part in the documentary because it was able to express, very simply and symbolically, a child's dream to change his or her life. Those dreams remain within us as adults. If God gives me the voice and the ability to choose songs with a message that softens people's hearts, when given the chance, I take it.

Q: Do you see a promising future for Nicaraguan children? A: I don't lose hope, which is what keeps me singing. In the world there is a balance between good and evil, and it has been proven that special individuals are capable of changing the destiny of a people. I believe that in the long term Nicaragua will learn to love and care for its children.