Music has exerted its powers over David Quiñónez more than once: it has healed him. The contagious joy of this artisan, his love for the land to which he belongs, and the energy of his spirit are undoubtedly linked to his passion for that instrument of sweet and unique sound, the marimba. He has been playing and manufacturing it for twenty years. He came to it thanks to a friend who invited him to dance at the foundation of Maestro Agustín Francisco Tenorio, TUMA, when he was 7 years old. He accepted without knowing what it was about, and upon arrival, he saw all the children running, jumping, in his words, being free. They played music, danced, and crafted, something he had never seen before. He got infected and joined them, running with joy himself.

He had arrived in Tumaco a year ago, sick. He came from the village of the Chagüi River, and he remembers that people, seeing him so thin, thought he was going to die. More than once he felt rejected or unwilling to play with the other children, but when he went to the foundation and played music, he felt part of something, he felt alive. He discovered that he could vent through the instruments, put his anger but also his joy there. Little by little, he fell in love, and when the time came, he felt the call of the marimba.

But years after learning to make his own marimbas, he felt another kind of call, that of his birthplace, asking him to return. He was going through a rough patch and proposed to his family to spend a few days in the village of the Chagüi River. So he arrived with his partner and his two children to a place he did not know, and he felt that his bond with his people had been broken. He has always enjoyed talking to the elders and laughing with them, so he decided to make a marimba, following a hunch. He went to the forest for chonta wood and began to manufacture it in his front yard. What he had anticipated happened: people started to approach, and with the marimba as an excuse, they were able to talk: they reunited. He then realized that he had to return to his place of origin to reconnect with his people and to understand, for example, why the marimba octaves sound like the sea, the wind, and the songs of birds. He had healed once again.

Just as the foundation of Maestro Francisco Tenorio offered so many the opportunity to wield an instrument instead of a weapon, David felt the call to join that resistance and help others. So he created the collective Canoa Grande in honor of the canoe that brought him to Tumaco, that means of transportation that unites the territory and carries the messages of its people. Full of pride, he says that, like canoes, his mission is to unite, and so it has been: more than 50 young people have joined his initiative in the María Auxiliadora neighborhood to learn about music and instruments. He also says that everything he has done has been worth it because it has allowed him to be at peace with himself. He knows that, just as he received the invaluable gift of knowledge, he must share what he has learned and thus multiply the teachings of his teachers, also being a friend and companion for his own students, who find in him someone to talk to and of course, laugh with.