The past couple days have been phenomenal. We have been at New Dawn High School in the Huruma slum in Nairobi working with hand-picked students on a variety of arts workshops with the theme of healing and “the God who sees me”. We have been exploring the story of Hagar in Scripture as a woman who was scorned and outcast, and the Angel of the Lord (i.e. the pre-incarnate Christ) appeared to her and told her that God still saw her, and to go back to Abraham and Sarah. Through that, these students have been identifying things in their own lives that have caused them pain or feelings of being outcast or rejected.
I had a very special opportunity to share about my sister Loni’s death with the students in the music workshop (more about the workshops in just a minute) and play a small portion of the string quartet I wrote as a response to that experience. But it was a way for me to connect with them on the level of expressing our pain, grief, loss, or whatever emotions with which we may grapple, through the arts, and specifically music.
So each morning we have gathered and sun the song “Joy” by Rend Collective as our theme song (They picked up the song in less than a day! I was pleasantly surprised!), which is followed by a dramatic reading of story of Hagar from the Bible, led by Judy and the drama group.
Then we get to hear a devotional by Ken, one of our team members, who has connected the Hagar story with several of the Psalms and encourages them through practical application in their own lives and life circumstances.
Then we have our tea break (chai and mendazis…delicious!) and then break into our groups. There is a music group, led by myself and Sanna; a drama group led by Judy; a visual art/painting group led by Maggie, with help from Ken; lastly, a poetry group led by Ann, with help from Nena.
Yesterday was our first day, and we did some introductions and split them into groups based on their interest, and then in the afternoon after lunch, we did some training in our specific areas.
I got to teach them about the basic elements of music (rhythm, melody, harmony, tone color, and form) and applied them to different aspects of their lives as human beings (rhythm as heartbeat, form as bones/structure, melody as our life story, harmony as relationships, tone color as emotions and what makes us unique) and use some of the songs that Sanna has written as examples. I think they connected well with everything, because today was quite a successful day!
Today, the students got to have fun using the tools they had been given the day before to practice creativity and come up with some things.
The art/painting group worked on a large group piece which is a tree; each part representing something different (see Maggie giving a demonstration on the first day, below) adding bits of their own stories and Scriptures that resonate with them in words on the painting.
The drama group worked with Judy on the Hagar story/script, working on acting skills, character technique/development and connecting with the characters in the story of Hagar.
The poetry group looked at the poem “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou and then took some time to create poems of their own rooted in their own life experiences.
The music group took the tools I had given them yesterday, and wrote some fantastic songs! Some of them came up with lyrics, with which Sanna and I helped develop a melody and chords, and then there were a couple who created both lyrics and their own melodies! Here is a picture of our music group looking at a song together.
Tomorrow we will compile all of this wonderful, heartfelt creativity into a production/performance for their teachers, who have been doing Bible training with Hans this week. The performance will be a mixture of the poetry and music the students have created, as well as a presentation of the group painting and performance of the Hagar story by the drama group. I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing it all come together! I will definitely be posting more pictures after tomorrow’s production, but in the meantime, here are some from today…
Sanna working with Lydia on some guitar skills.
Judy chatting with Steve, one of the students in her drama group
Nena with Joseph and Frederick, our two “assistants” (graduates of New Dawn). They have been incredibly helpful this week! Frederick was with Nena in the poetry group, and Joseph was in the music group with me and Sanna.
Each day, we conclude our time with the “Joy” song again. It’s such a great time!
Well, time to get some rest so that I can be functional tomorrow as we put everything together for the production! God is good, and I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Him be present in these students…
The Adventures of Lance in Kenya 