Miraclestar Doby ('19) brings music and hope to Tijuana

Starting in the spring of 2018, Girl Scout Miraclestar Doby (’19) has traveled to Florido Cuarta Sección to launch her gold award project, where she has been implementing a music program that opens in January 2019.Doby’s project was aimed to build a music room in Florido Cuarta Sección that would help introduce music to the children of the city. The community of Florido Cuarta Sección is a small town outside of Tijuana, providing refuge for families in need. Doby plans to teach piano lessons to the children in the community using her background as a experienced violist and singer, playing in the Samo Symphony Orchestra and singing in the Concert Choir.Doby’s inspiration for the project came from Fiona Taylor, her fellow girl scout, who was compelled to help the people in the community of Florido Cuarta Sección by starting a library to increase access to education in the city. Taylor received donations from people in the Los Angeles community, expanding the variety of books she was able to include in the project. Doby followed in Taylor’s footsteps, but decided to use her musical talent to enrich the lives in the community, as she was dismayed to see that there wasn’t much emphasis on musical enrichment. She knew the value of education and wanted to spread that to those in need.“I was inspired by the mission of the community center to promote education and enrichment for impoverished children. Because education has opened up many opportunities for me, I was moved to help the community create their own opportunities,” Doby said.Doby has already purchased a variety of instruments with the money she fundraised. These instruments include new guitars, a ukulele, keyboards, drums, bells, triangles, an accordion, a cajon and tambourines. She was also able to get a supply of string instruments donated by the government: donations from Samo students, fellow troop members and people of the community included recorders, music books and other percussion instruments.   From the start, Doby knew that completing her gold award award project was going to be a long journey, but this only seemed to encourage her to work harder. She is still collecting donations from the Samo community to add to her music room, and plans to continue to visit the city to constantly improve her project.“The thought of seeing children exploring and learning music makes the long trips across the border worth it. . . I am so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to make a difference for a community and reach beyond my own boundaries,” Doby said.