The Sound of Hope – By Tracy Greenhalgh

He’s an indie rock musician, used to performing on stadium stages before thousands of excited fans. But he’s just as comfortable strumming his guitar for poverty-stricken Nicaraguans who forage through heaps of smoldering trash in their local village dump.

Littleton born-and-raised Brad Corrigan (part of the wildly successful 90’s indie band, Dispatch) and his fellow band mates broke up after a college circuit hot-streak which lasted eight years. They were riding high when things began to fizzle.

Fast forward nearly a decade to last summer’s sold-out, nationwide Dispatch reunion tour, kicked-off by three nights at Denver’s own Red Rocks Amphitheater. Dispatch capped the summer by sharing a few festival billings with the Dave Matthews Band.

“We’re coming from a full cup now—we can finally enjoy it,” says a wiser, 36-year-old Corrigan.

Besides fulfilling his musical dreams, what fills this troubadour’s cup these days? For the past six years, his vision has been fueled by stints in the village dumpsite of La Chureca in Managua, Nicaragua.

“After Dispatch, I took a big left turn to Nicaragua, where I found more than I could ever have imagined,” says a beaming Corrigan. While playing a solo benefit concert in 2005, Corrigan discovered La Chureca, Managua’s landfill and shanty town community. He’s never been the same since.

The dump is a desolate place where children walk barefoot over empty drug syringes and the never-ending stench of rotten food and burning tires bites the nostrils. Flies and vultures darken the air, while a constant, smoky haze makes tears run down stoic, ash-covered faces.

As Corrigan discovered, this dump is also a place of rare beauty: a child’s sweet smile, the self-respect and dignity of a mother providing for her family by foraging for recyclable trash, and the ringing laughter of kids chasing down a deflated soccer ball.

“We just started throwing music at the silence, throwing paint at the ugliness,” says Corrigan, who created the Love Light & Melody (LLM) nonprofit organization in 2007. Through his vast social network and gift for developing relationships, Corrigan brought together a crew of musicians, artists, professional athletes and regular volunteers to come to La Chureca to be “physically present in the community, just hanging out with kids and parents,” says Corrigan.

“Knowing that your greatest purpose is using your gifts and every bit of freedom you have to fight for those who don’t have that freedom, you come alive in a way that’s indescribable,” he says, setting his impassioned gaze miles away.

In 2010, Corrigan and his LLM crew finished building a safe house for La Chureca’s most at-risk kids. The LLM Safe House currently houses seven children. “Our mission is to restore families—that’s how a culture is truly transformed,” he says. Corrigan and his team make about 12 trips yearly to La Chureca.

“Our hope is to go deep with a few families, to watch the Lord restore their hope. What a joy to get to make any difference in their lives,” he says. “It’s like triage; you have to be present to the emergencies in front of you, discerning what you can do for each family: food, medical care, building a shelter—we can’t really plan ahead.

Corrigan also began Dia de Luz (Day of Light) a yearly celebration where volunteers come together bringing hope, music and art into the dump for one day. Colorful kites soar overhead while songs and laughter pulsate through the haze. Kids and volunteers splash vibrant paint onto dirty, grey walls; kids and grown-ups throw balls and play tag, and the whole place lights up like a carnival celebration.

What drives Corrigan back to La Chureca? “I’ve always loved the story of Robin Hood and the idea of redistribution: getting to be right in the middle, to bring together those who don’t have with those who do, and watching all the joy and light that comes from bridging the two,” he says simply.