Teen ‘Angel’ Inspires Followers

All eyes are fixed on 16-year-old Sandy Caldera, standing in front of the altar at Our Lady of Loretto Church in Echo Park. Her long black hair is partly tied back; she wears black pants and a frilly but modest blouse. A microphone is in her hand.

She has only to smile and about 400 people rise to their feet and begin swaying their bodies and waving their hands in air as if in prayer.

One man likens her to an angel. “An instrument of God,” he says. A young woman says Sandy is her inspiration. A father of two says she lifts his spirits, making him “want to fly higher and higher.”

In mostly Roman Catholic churches in Latino neighborhoods throughout Southern California, Sandy, a blind gospel singer from Tijuana, is packing the pews with thousands of people, who are drawn to her powerful, throaty voice and spiritual ballads about overcoming life’s ordeals.

She was in Echo Park on Friday and St. John the Baptist Church in Baldwin Park on Sunday. Almost every week she can be found in local churches, singing to her followers, who are drawn to her talent as much as the message she imparts in her songs. Her mother guides her onstage. Sandy speaks to her audience in gracious tones.

“Are you an angel who sings?” asked 6-year-old Isabel Melo. “No,” Sandy replied with a smile, “but I sing to God.”

Her family has financed the recording of six CDs, sold mainly at Christian gatherings and bookstores. But her latest album, “Solo con Dios” (Only with God), has been released by D’Colores, a new Montebello-based Christian record label geared toward mainstream Latino listeners, owner Yesenia Flores said.

D’Colores is affiliated with label giant Fonovisa. There are plans to have Sandy’s songs aired on mainstream Spanish-language radio stations, Flores said. A promotional tour is also in the works.

As thrilled as she is about singing to mainstream radio audiences, Sandy said she has no plans to record a nonspiritual album.

And for now, she sings to prerecorded instrumentals played on a tape deck and uses the church’s sound system.

At one point during her performance at Our Lady of Loretto, the church handyman couldn’t get the tape going, so she just sang a cappella.

Church groups typically sponsor her visit and pay her expenses. The concerts are usually free.

Born and raised in a middle-class suburb of Tijuana, Sandy began taking singing lessons at age 5, according to her mother, Constanza Martinez, who accompanies her daughter on all trips. Her father is a lawyer.

Her parents, devout Catholics, at first struggled with their daughter’s handicap, discovered at birth.

“When we found out we questioned God like, Why us? We, who are always in church? Why do you do this to us?” Martinez said. “Then we understood that you shouldn’t question God, only to accept his will. Little by little, we’ve understood that he had a plan for her.”

By age 5, her parents realized she was gifted enough to sing with Tijuana’s Cathedra choir. By 9 she was the choir’s leading voice.

At times, Sandy said, it has been difficult being blind and having to rely on help to get around.

“I used to see my handicap as a limitation. Now I see it as a gift. It brings me closer to people,” she said. “It strikes me to see kids who are ill. Far from ignoring them, I want my message to reach them.”

Jorge Hernandez, a hulking 15-year-old who lives near Our Lady of Loretto, said she is an exemplary teenager who inspires youths.

“It motivates you to see that not all teenagers are on the streets doing drugs and violence,” Hernandez said. “Most adults picture all teens as bad because they dress in a certain way. She’s the perfect example that that is not always the case.”

Sandy said that although she only wears clothing that the Virgin Mary would approve of, she is very much like most girls her age. Her mother allows her to see her boyfriend regularly. She is fond of young Latino pop stars like Christian Castro: “He thrills me!”

Martinez credits a parish priest from a poor church in Tijuana with launching her singing career. The parish’s catechism program needed to build a room to teach children.

The priest suggested that 9-year-old Sandy help by recording a tape with her songs, with proceeds going toward construction of the room. Martinez agreed. The tape was dedicated to slain Guadalajara Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo.

Since then, Sandy has traveled throughout Mexico, Latin America and the United States.

Her calling, she said, is singing to people like Salvador Arrivillaga, a 41-year-old father of two who finds inspiration in Sandy’s joyful way of overcoming her disability.

“She has helped me to not concentrate on painful, negative things. She uplifts me, making me want to fly higher and higher,” Arrivillaga said.