This week saw Becky head off to Bolivia for three months. After over five years at Good Energy working in the trading team with many of our larger generators, she’s decided to take some time out to share her musical passion with children at an orphanage in Cochabamba, south east of the Bolivian capital of La Paz.


By Becky Brown

“I’ve never been to South America and will definitely take the opportunity to do a little exploring when I have a few days off. I’m hoping to do Machu Picchu and a bit of the rainforest.

The volunteer work I'll be doing at the orphanage will be working with the music teacher there assisting with their music therapy programmes, the standard music curriculum and instrument tuition. I’m also hoping to start a choir.

I’ll be staying with a host family in the outskirts of Cochabamba spending Christmas out of the UK for the first time! I don’t speak any Spanish at the moment but have been learning and am counting on my – so far untested – ability to ‘pick up the lingo’ when immersed in the culture. I’m ensuring I have my 'please's and 'thank you's down before I leave. As well as how to ask for a cheese sandwich and a black coffee - my survival staples!

Of course - music is a universal language and I'm really excited to have the opportunity to share with others something that has brought me so much joy. I've been fortunate with my musical influences. My parents would always have music playing and be singing along - a habit I cannot shake! They bought me my first keyboard when I was 4 on which I taught myself Silent Night from the book that came with it and went on to perform at the school Christmas play. Well and truly bitten by the performance bug I moved on to recorder, violin, flute, cello and sung with the choir throughout school. I then took up the penny whistle and have been in a folk band for the last 11 years, during which time my crimes have included introducing my bandmates to the works of Green Day and Radiohead. I've also started to play guitar - a skill I'm particularly fond of as it allows me to sing at the same time!

There is also something amazing about helping someone learn something so new to them. I once sat in with a friend who teaches 4-6 year-olds. During maths some of the class learnt about subtraction. After half an hour their little brains had been introduced to the notion that you can take one number away from another number. Some of them went into the playground counting down on their fingers. Others, it became apparent, could simply not handle this radical concept at all and would have to deal with it another day.

Working with children on the music projects will be a complete change to what I do at Good Energy. I've had some major changes in my life recently and need a bit of time to catch up with myself and focus again on what is important to me. I'm hoping to return to Good Energy in February with a renewed enthusiasm.”

Keep up to date with Becky’s Bolivian adventure on her blog. She says her mother will have several kittens if she doesn’t hear from Becky regularly so is planning on updating often.