I have spent the last couple of weeks based out of Nairobi, Kenya. Schools and school singing were the primary areas of focus for my visit to three primary schools, two secondary schools and St. Paul's university. I talked with teachers and principals about the music education options and resources for primary and secondary school students.
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| Some schools have Pre-K children in playgroups, where they are cared for during school hours and are taught some fundamentals to help them prepare for the days to come when they become primary students. Others, like this class at Hebron Educational Centre on the outskirts of Nairobi, have educational curricula similar to U.S. preschools. These amazing children ages 3 and 4 years old talked with me in English about the pictures they were coloring , and I really enjoyed their polite introductions of themselves. |
You can see and hear the choir at one of the schools in Nairobi singing the song "Jambo" which means "Hello" in kiSwahili. While there are over 40 official languages in Kenya, kiSwahili and English are used widely. You may need to copy and paste the link into your browser if clicking on the youtube link here does not take you to the video.
My husband Dennis and I also traveled with my colleague Dr. Peter Okeno and his dear friend Benjamine through the countryside to his family's homestead in a village near the border of Tanzania. Wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables accompanied the ujamaa experience with his kind and hospitable family and community (near Massai Mara, Migori County if you want to find it on a map). Ujamaa is an East African concept of an extended family, as we all are part of, regardless of biological kinship.
After returning from the village, I talked with students of music and theology at St. Paul's University on the subject of "singing across cultures." We talked about music education in the U.S. from Pre-K through adulthood in schools, churches and universities. An important component of this lecture and discussion is that the university is in the beginning stages of expanding music course offerings, so administrators in attendance heard faculty, students and local ministers comparing notes and asking questions about the structures of formal music education in their respective institutions. At the end, we all sang "Jubilate Deo" in three part round harmonies.
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Jubilate Deo, Alleluia! |
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