Hello and greetings from Down Here to all of you Up There. I am an absolute newbie, so I hope that I shall be forgiven if I have chosen the wrong category for this discussion.

I'm a Catholic priest who works with children from marginal barrios in a big city in Latin-America. I set up a small charity which is currently helping several hundred of the city's poorest and most vulnerable children through it various programmes.

Some years ago, I started a children's choir. Originally, I intended it to be mixed; but that hasn't really worked. Singing doesn't tend to be viewed as a very macho activity down here, and although there are a number of choirs for girls in the city, there don't seem to be any for boys; and the number of boys willing to join a mixed choir is limited. I therefore decided that when the older girls moved on, they would not be replaced. In 2013 the mix will be 2 girls to about 30 boys. The voices of most of the boys have not broken, but some of those whose have stay on in order to allow us to have a more extensive repertoire, so the age range is from 7 to 17.

The selection process is quite rigorous, and a considerable level of commitment is required. Each child attends 3 or 4 times a week and receives classes in musical theory and sight-reading as well as in singing. The choir's repertoire includes a little plainsong, the usual short classical lollipops, and a few songs from films as well as Latin-American hymns, carols and folk-music. They therefore sing in Latin and English in addition to Spanish. In short, we are gradually moving towards the establishment of a semi-residential choir school, loosely based on the classical European model.

We hope, eventually, to produce a first-class choir. The objectives of of this are multiple and include:
promoting the glory of God and the salvation of souls through song;
promoting the culture of life by providing a voice for the unborn and for other children who are abused or marginalised;
raising the profile of our charity in order to gain support and funds for the work of our other programmes;
providing our children with an alternative to the criminal gangs in order to keep them out of drugs and crime;
contributing to the improvement of the - generally abysmal - standard of liturgical music in the parishes;
re-introducing Latin and - to a limited extent - plainsong into local liturgical use;
encouraging local musicians to compose or arrange music for liturgical use;
and - of course - giving children from poor families the chance to develop their musical talents.

In all this we are trying to implement what the present Holy Father said in Deus Caritas Est: “The Church’s deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of God (kerygma-martyria), celebrating the sacraments (leitourgia) and exercising the ministry of charity (diakonia). These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable.”

I am not a musician, so in order to get the choir up and running I have relied heavily on the services of local musicians. Unfortunately, because of the lack of good liturgical choirs and of choirs for boys, it has proved very difficult to find staff for the choir who have had the sort of training and experience that we require. At the end of last year we appointed a full-time Director, but I am not sure how long he is going to last. Employment law in this country is very unbalanced, and although he has security for another year, he could leave us in the lurch at any moment.

We advertised nationally the last time, and the person we appointed was the only possible candidate. If we have to find a replacement for him, we will therefore have to cast our net wider and try to find someone from abroad. This is certainly not the sort of job that would suit everyone, but it would be a wonderful opportunity for the right person.

As well as possessing appropriate qualifications and experience, this person would have to be a practising Catholic who is loyal to the Magisterium, and has a fair command of Spanish, great patience and energy, a keen sense of humour, a liking for adventure, an interest in teaching and arranging our sort of repertoire, and the ability to enthuse and control lively and affectionate children whilst adhering to a strict child-protection policy.

Although the salary we would be able to offer would probably be considerably less than what he or she would be able to earn Up There, it would include full board and lodging in secure and comfortable - though not luxurious - accommodation in our centre, so there would not be many outgoings to cover.

I would be most grateful for the advice of members of this forum about how we might best go about finding such a paragon quickly, should the need arise: where and how we might advertise, what sort of person we should look for and how much - or, rather, how little - might be considered a reasonable salary.

I have other questions, but I’ll save them for later.