“This land is your land, this land is my land
From Pretoria, to Robben Island,
From the great Limpopo, to Atlantic waters,
This land is made for you and me.”
That’s my rewrite of the well known folk song, accompanied by an upbeat Trini Lopez version that my husband downloaded to a CD. Although I can dance up a storm, my singing voice is the pits, hence the CD for teaching purposes.
First I met with Ruth and one of the young Home Based Care women, Winnie, to give them the printed words and listen to the tune. They immediately began clapping the beat and moving their feet as we sang our way through. By the third time through they were singing in harmony, and after that they no longer needed the CD. Amazing how much better my voice sounded singing along with them! Then we set a few simple arm and feet movements to the chorus.
The next day we team taught the song to about 30 gogos. Ruth and Winnie explained what the words meant and they all learned the English version. What a glorious sound they made! I couldn’t help but think what a tentative and thin sound a comparable group of Canadian grannies would make as they learned a new song in a foreign language. But of course, it’s cultural – they sing lustily and spontaneously many times a day. What fun!
On World Aids Day, Monday, Dec. 1, I will be going with Sitabogogo to a big rally. Will report back on that experience next.
This blogging is so wonderful. Thank you for sharing all this with us. Looking forward to more.
Sue
Susan – is there any chance you could record the singing – that would make a great addition to the website and I’d love to hear it!
Lynn
Hi Susan,
I just wanted you to know that I keep up with your blog! You are truly so inspiring!
Love, Jeanne-Ann
Can’t reply to all the comments, but siyabonga (thank you so much) for letting me know this is being read. All the feedback keeps me going.
Lynn, I’ll try to videotape the gogos singing, but I’ll leave it to you to upload, thanks!
Susan