hattihatti.blogg.se

 

Everybody has a relationship to music. If it's one thing that we have learned from all our travels it´s that music is the one thing that connects people. This international language that can bring out so many emotions and expressions. Not only did we meet through music, but we have always made sure to share music wherever we go. Even if it's the sound of a rusty harmonica or the beat of two hands on a bucket it awakes something in every human.

Yesterday we spent the day at our friend Bijeysh organization SAATH Nepal. David have been working together with SAATH before with his students at the International english school in Sweden to raise money and awarness of this great program. The basics of the organization is to help children that are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. They support the kids by scholarships so they can go to school since their parents usually can't afford to pay for them. The program also try to create an awarness for the situation regarding HIV/AIDS since a lot of people in Nepal have preconceptions of HIV-positive people because of a lack of facts. A lot of the public schools have started taking basic HIV-tests on the kids at school to see if they are HIV-positive. If they are tested positive they are usually discriminated or kicked out of the school.

 

One of SAATH's programs is called Hakuna Matata - dont worry, be happy. This is when they invite the kids that they are sponsoring (30 at the moment) and their parents to do some fun activities together. It can be anything from outings to workshops. After yesterdays workshop was done we brought out a guitar that one of the volunteers brought along with Davids harmonica and we started playing and singing for the kids. After two songs the instruments was passed around. The enthusiastic kids played with such passion and really enjoyed it. Since we obviously were short on Nepali songs we went with the few words that we knew. Dwita ramro hatti - hatti hatti hatti. Two beautiful elephants - elephant, elephant, elephant. If you thought that The Beatles had excited fans then it was nothing compared to these kids. It will for sure always be a memorable song that will hit the Nepali billboards in a short amount of time.

 

Since there was no instruments at SAATH's program we thought that it would be a really valuble gift for the kids to have some instruments to play on. This could be anything from drums, percussion, xylophone etc. The kids are doing so well in opening up and creating with their imagination. We believe music to be valuable since it gives them another way to express themselves. 

We have been looking at prices for instruments and have found the following (Nepali rupies):

Xylophone 1500 x2 = 3000

Finger cymbal 200 x2 = 400

Djembe drum 2500 x1 = 2500

Shaker eggs 150 x20 = 3000

Tambourine 180 x2 = 360

Cajon drum 10 000 x1= 10 000

Harmonica 200 x2 = 400

Small djembe drums 2500 x 3= 7500

 

Some of the kids live together in a local shelter and if you can get them interested in music you can strenghten the group dynamics and make the kids more comfortable in performing. How cool would it be if these kids all togehter played their own version of the Hakuna Matata song?