Let the Games Begin

I see two kind of bicyclers here: young men on bikes way too small for them, weebling everywhere with knees flying out to the side, and young boys on bikes way too big for them, weebling everywhere with feet barely touching the pedals. Both are interesting sites to observe from our balcony here in Elmina.

Well, today was the big day. Okay, one of many “big” days. But, today, after a week of getting settled in, I led each classroom in 30-minutes of music activities. Note: I am not calling what I’m doing here music therapy for a few reasons. First, I’m not a music therapist! Yet. Only after I finish my last year of school, complete a 6-month internship, and then pass my board certification exam, will I be able to do music therapy. At school, we do music therapy during practicum each quarter, but we are closely supervised by our professors, and work with them to determine goals, objectives, plans, etc. Here, I’m flying solo. Second, this isn’t music therapy because I do not have those treatment goals and a plan for how to reach them, like we do in the clinical setting. Although I do have things in mind that the music can help reinforce (like communication, socialization, decision making, self confidence, plus any academics to name a few), I am not taking data on certain responses or tracking progress toward a goal. However, the format of each session and the activities we will do, do have some overlap with music therapy sessions. But in the end, the end goal and process are different.

After going to bed last night with butterflies in my stomach, I was able to start the day off on a good foot. I received an email from my mom saying that a letter had arrived for me from the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). In April, I submitted a proposal to present this project at our national conference, held every year in November. I was so happy as I read that my proposal has been accepted, and I will indeed be presenting this information in Atlanta. If that isn’t incentive to get out the door and get to work, I don’t know what is.

Scheduled to work with the preschool class from 9:50 – 10:20, I got there a bit early and got the instruments out, reviewed my plan, and asked one of the teachers to translate my the classroom expressions I know from Twi into Fante, so that the students would understand. The Aboom School seemed particularly full of life today, and we ended up having a group of 14 kiddos in the preschool class. As soon as they saw the instruments coming in, they all gathered around, touching them and hugging me. With the help of the classroom teacher, we got the students to move the tables out of the way and arrange the seats in a semicircle. They did just as the teacher asked, and were sitting quietly with hands in their laps, staring up at me by the time I could even blink. It was time to get started.

Before leaving OU, one of my music therapy professors, Ms. Steele, and I came up with a format that I will follow during each lesson. I used that and some Ghanaian folksongs I learned from another professor, Paschal Younge, and came up with the following plan:

a. Introduction – I used “Hello Everybody” from the Music Together curriculum. This enabled me to let the students know we were starting music, and I also got to go around and greet each student individually (and continue to learn names!)

b. In seat activity with upper body movement – drawing from the repertoire Dr. Younge gave me, I used the song “Sansa Kroma,” which is a popular Akan stone passing game. Basically, Ghanaian children sing this song while sitting in a circle and passing stones in rhythm with the music. I adapted it for our needs, using egg shakers instead of rocks, and using only one egg shaker to start with, rather than giving each student one.

c. Interactive singing activity - I borrowed an OU music therapy favorite for this one, and I’m not even sure of its name. The words are, “Let’s go down to the farm and see the animals. What sound does a ___ make?” and the kids get to meow or bark or moo to their little hearts content. It’s just so cute.

d. Movement activity – Again, I drew from Ghana for this, using a song that the kids already knew, “Kye Kye Kule.” I actually learned this song spring quarter in Dr. Younge’s class, so had plenty of experience doing it. This call and response song consists of five, four-beat phrases. The leader sings each phrase accompanied with made up motions, and the group repeats immediately.

e. Interactive instrument activity – I used the resonator bells I brought for this activity. Since these are unfamiliar to the students, I let them just explore, giving each student a chance to play the one I was holding. I then passed out five and used numbers and counted in order to indicate whose turn it was. The number 1 goes with C, 2 goes with D, 3 with E, etc.

f. Closing – I did what we call “piggybacking,” and used the melody from a Ghanaian song the students did not know, and inserted my own lyrics, letting the students know that music was finished, but I would be back on Wednesday.

Our time together went fast, and the teachers were supportive, translating if my directions were unclear. The students really enjoyed the music. I was surprised how attentive they were – no one left his seat the entire time. Even the girl who tries to hit and kick me forgot our troubled past; she clapped along and played the instruments. She even snuck into the vocational class and danced along to our drumming.

I jotted down a few quick notes, and then headed into the vocational classroom for our lesson together. Again, the class was full, and we had 11 in our group. Just like the preschool, they moved the desks out of the way and arranged the chairs eagerly. I did make some changes, but for the most part, I followed the same plan for both classrooms. I used my own judgment, adapting and challenging them as seemed appropriate. Rather than sing the farm animal song with teenagers, I substituted it for a drumming experience that gave each of them the opportunity to improvise on the drum with me, which they all seemed to enjoy. Again, the lesson went fast, and I left school today feeling satisfied.

On my way to the taxi station, I picked up a loaf of bread, some tomatoes, an avocado and a pineapple for a total of 4.5 cedi ($3). Once home, I made myself a tomato and avocado sandwich for lunch. The bread was still warm when I cut it. I enjoyed some quiet time on the balcony and finally figured out that the reason the house was so dark was because the power was out. Some of the girls who worked from home today said it went off around 9, and when I left for the pool at 2, it was still not on.

We are fortunate enough to live just across the street from the Elmina Beach Resort. Even by American standards, the building is pretty nice. The best part is about it is the pool – Global Mamas volunteers can buy passes to the pool for about $15 for a month. The employees can be kind of difficult to deal with, though, so I finally was able to get mine today. I enjoyed a quiet afternoon by the deserted pool, which just so happens to sit right on the ocean. I finally started to feel like I am actually on vacation! Erin joined me soon, and we read by the poolside, just like the good old days at the East Liverpool Country Club. Except they don’t serve turkey clubs and curly fries in Elmina.

I did a bit of work for tomorrow, and enjoyed another wonderful meal at Eli’s: groundnut soup and grilled cheese. She was kind enough to make me a sandwich just like the other girls save the cheese, and it was so good. I never would have known that there was supposed to be cheese on the sandwich. And the soup was incredible. Groundnuts are basically peanuts, which serve as the base for this popular Ghanaian soup. Eli throws in a bunch of vegetables (cabbage, squash, tomatoes, green beans, etc.) and just the right amount of spice. I wish I could bring her home with me.

Thankfully, the power is back on tonight. I still have much planning to do for the first teacher training session tomorrow, but I am also feeling that 4:30am wake up call from yesterday, so it will be interesting to see what I end up choosing. Time is going so fast.. it’s hard to believe that tomorrow we will have been in Ghana for 10 days. In a way, it seems like nothing has changed. But on the other hand, I have learned so much in just a little over a week. Each day I wake up with an eagerness to see what the day will bring. So far, I have not been disappointed.