Songweavers Sing at Second Start

“Thank you! Truly, words can’t convey the gift that you and your wonderful choir brought yesterday.”

Desire, teaching me a song

Noella Olson, one of the teachers of ESL at Second Start, wrote me a note after a group of Songweavers sang for her adult students. Concord has a growing refugee population. In this class, there were students speaking over a dozen languages. Noella said that to get to America, to Concord, New Hampshire, everyone in the class had survived some kind of trauma.

Songweavers were asked to come sing so the students could experience English in the context of American folk songs. We sang some contemporary folk songs, like “So Glad I’m Here,” “Open Your Heart,” and “Courage My Soul.” We also sang an African song in Zulu. The students danced with us. Americans don’t typically dance and sing, especially not at the same time, but many of the students came from cultures where dancing and singing are normal daily activities for everyone, not just those who are talented. We all bumbled and laughed our way through the dance, happy to be moving together.

I taught the students some easy-to-learn classic folk songs like “This Little Light of Mine” and       “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands.” People stood up, clapped, swayed, smiled, and sang along. I asked if any of the students would like to teach us one of their songs. A woman in a colorful wrap skirt, blouse and turban, named Korethe, sang a heart-felt hymn from her country. A young man, named Desire, taught us a lovely song of praise.

We echoed his words as best we could, giving us an immediate experience of how hard it is to learn an entirely new language. Afterwards, I videotaped Desire singing his song v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y so Songweavers could learn it. He translated the words for me. They meant, “I’m singing for God and God sees me. I’m singing for God. He sees me and believes in me.”

Many students wrote thank you notes to us. One said, “Thank you for singing, dancing, playing drums. Good day, good dancing, good group. Come again. God bless you so much.”

We felt blessed that morning singing for these new Americans. Our hearts were touched and opened. We will definitely come again.

Noella described the impact of our visit beautifully.

“As I sat there, watching my students’ faces, I realized in a new way the acute reality of trauma over the lives of refugees. This is why I invited you to come; to remind them of the song that lives within, however dim the spark may be. Witnessing the joy over their faces, swaying bodies, shouts, whistles…was deeply gratifying. But then, I tuned into my own spirit and realized that I was receiving healing too! The terror attack on Paris is still weighing heavily over heart and mind. Your songs awakened joy, the fight to stay in the game with beauty and hope for the future, however dark the horizon may appear. I was reminded of the healing power of music, dance and song. This is language of the spirit! Songweavers brought healing. Thank you.”