Bambelela (Never Give Up)

Bom Noite-
  As I said, today the REAL work began!  Sue and I were up by 7:00 this morning so we could get ready to sing with the itty bitty children at 8:00. As it turned out, not all the itty bitties were in class by 8:00, so we got off to a late start waiting for more of them to arrive. However, they were adorable!  We taught two classes 'God is Here' and 'Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes'. The first group of kids were extremely excited to sing with us and were practically dragging me into their classroom to begin! They caught on to 'HSN&T' pretty quickly and I think their teachers had a fun time with it, too. I even learned to name parts of the body in Portugese! See? Always something to be learned... Our second class of little ones had a good time, but they seemed to enjoy sleeping more than singing. It's ok, they were still cute!


At 9:00, 10:00 3:00 and 4:00 we sang with a total of 80 people! Our group of 10-16 yr olds in the morning were most interested in singing with me and they were really into it. After our first class, a group of 3 teenage boys stayed behind to sing for me! It was adorable. One sang 'Amazing Grace' really well.  Very good tenor!  Wouldn't you know it, those three boys came back to every class and had the time of their lives! It was so awesome to see guys who want to be involved.


Our afternoon sessions were packed with kids and adults! Ana, Sue, and I made sure they knew when they were scheduled for the rest of the week and lessons continued as normal.  I noticed more kids who seemed disinterested at this session, but hopefully we gave them a reason to return tomorrow. By the time we were reviewing songs, they seemed more alert. 


We learned about proper posture for singing and proper breathing and expanded our English vocabulary.  Lots of people were having a great time, especially my group of adults! Lots of them sing in their church choir, so interest was high.  They have a lot of heart and really want to improve. My two good (new) friends Mareeza and Dorigna are in this adult group and kept me smiling the whole time.  Even with a language barrier, friendly faces are always assuring. 


The hardest part of my day was defintely working with Paolo (the music teacher)'s instrumentalists. Yes, music is a universal language, but when one tries to explain transposition (changing keys) in a foreign language, anyone can get confused! Paolo's kids play the violin, flute, saxophone (tenor and alto), trumpet, and clarinet.  Not a full orchestra, but they sounded great! I am hoping to have them play 'This Little Light of Mine' and 'Sizohamba' in our concert next Friday.  We looked at two songs today and I had such a hard time trying to explain the music to them-it was a real challenge.  One of the violin players understood a bit of English, so she was a big help.  The good news is, these kids love playing their instruments, and I know they will practice! (Throughout most of this final rehearsal, Sue was locked in our house because the gate wouldn't open! Poor thing-she had keys, but they weren't working! Fortunately, she was rescued...) 


More of the same tomorrow, but we're hoping people remember which times they are scheduled to come. Unlike back home, I can't just email a schedule and expect people to be able to read it.  It takes a lot more than that to get people to come together here, but they do it!  


I am sure Sue and I will sleep well tonight, considering how hard we worked today. It was definitely worth it and we're ready to tackle tomorrow! Love, Jamie PS- please help us support this amazing community! Click on our ChipIn widget!