Happy, Healthy Children
For our final song-writing unit, the children at SDKE Mangunan and I discussed the life of children in Indonesia. I began with a workshop in which children answered the questions: “What do children need to live happy and healthy lives?” and “What problems are faced by children in Indonesia today?” To make this a more fun activity than a discussion, I made posters with the questions, and each child made three paper hand cut-outs. They wrote two answers for the first question with their hands, and another answer with their third paper hand. Some decided to write their answers quickly and spend the rest of the workshop playing drums, while others thought carefully and colored in their hands.
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Afro-Peruvian Beats: El Ritmo Sigue
Having already captured some awesome images during the Festival Internacional del Cajón in May, I was once again welcomed into the home of Rafael Santa Cruz, one of Peru’s renowned cajón players. I had met Rafael in December, only three months after arriving in Peru, and it was great to be able to interview him one more time.
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Andrew Magill’s ‘Stories of AIDS’
In 2009, Andrew Magill, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, received a Fulbright mtvU Fellowship to go to Malawi and create a concept album with Malawian recording artist Peter Mawanga. The album tells the story of people living with AIDS in Malawi. Magill is a co-producer and musician for the Mau a Malawi: Stories of AIDS album. The U.S. release of the album will be on October 14th at an event at the University of North Carolina.
Click here for tickets to the event.
And for more on the Stories of AIDS project go to http://storiesofaids.com/.
Connection: Northern Ireland and the United States
The giant TV in the city center was broadcasting images from New York’s September 11 Memorial Service and it seemed to open a portal of understanding directly between Northern Ireland and the Unite States. As the images and messages passed from New York to Belfast, I couldn’t help but feel closer to my homeland and to its steadfast spirit. Throughout the Belfast September 11th Commemorative Event I was simultaneously in both of the countries that I loved, and the pain from the past reaching to the present united us all first in anguish and then in the powerful desire to look forward. This is where the people of the United States and the people of Northern Ireland are joined; they share a spirit of determined resilience despite the devastation of past events.
11.11.11
I have so much to share with you and so few spaces left to write… at least in this particular format, but I will do my best. I am extremely excited as usual because I am in Sydney and I am finding so many venues that allow hip-hop artist who have a social conscious message to speak… yet at the same time, a bit of a paradox exist, because while people are interested in their message, they have a hard time getting main stream attention.
One place I have visited several times during my stay in Sydney is Krosswerdz. Krosswerds is a Christian based hip-hop church based in Sydney, which has been in existence for 5 years. It meets once per month on the last Saturday of each month (except December). Krosswerdz enacts the four main elements of hip-hop (emceeing, DJing, graffiti and breaking), into their monthly church services. I found out about Krosswerdz from several sources. I believe MC Trey was the first person to suggest I attend a service. The first session I was able to attend was held in October, 2010. I was immediately impressed with several components of the church.
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