This July, NFSC will welcome music therapists and art educators to Uganda for a cross-cultural project, Many Voices, One Song. This program seeks to establish a global neighborhood between the children of the NFSC with children in Belmont, Massachusetts by composing original music together, creating artwork, sharing experiences, and exchanging culture.

Many Voices, One Song is a global arts exchange between the children of the Chenery Extended After-School Program, in Belmont, Massachusetts, and the Namugongo Fund for Special Children in Namugongo, Uganda. This project is the initial step in connecting children from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds through the creation of powerful music and art projects.

Program Goals:

* To create and maintain meaningful, accepting, and peaceful global relationships among diverse populations of children

* To foster self-confidence, self-awareness, and emotional expression through therapeutic, creative arts interventions

* To encourage global citizenship.

* To raise funds that will benefit various projects of the NFSC, as well as further development, implementation, assessment, and evaluation of Many Voices, One Song, and the Global Youth Neighborhood initiative.

Program Participant History:

Chenery Extended (Chen-Ex) is a non-profit organization serving the children of Belmont through academic support, engaging workshops, and unique educational experiences. Over one hundred children attend the program, which meets daily after school hours.

The Namugongo Fund for Special Children is a Ugandan non-governmental organization that serves and supports over 1,000 orphans and vulnerable children, living in a society deeply affected by the AIDS epidemic. In addition to providing breakfast daily at each of the five breakfast center locations, the NFSC provides academic support, ARV therapy for HIV positive children, and therapeutic psychosocial interventions at its after-school program.

Program Staff:

Elizabeth Bosworth is a formally trained artist and art educator. She is a graduate of Alfred University with and undergraduate degree in Fine Arts, and will soon be receiving her Masters from Lesley University. She is apart of the Chen-Ex staff for the past five years, as an art teacher, curriculum coordinator and assistant director. In addition, Beth has focused on bringing community service and outreach programs to the students at Chen-Ex.

Lindsey Hollister is a trained music therapist. She finished her studies at the Berklee College of Music, in Boston, and interned at local hospitals and therapeutic centers. Last summer, Lindsey spent three months in Ghana, West Africa, creating a music therapy pilot program at a cultural arts center for orphans and vulnerable children, infected and affected by chronic illness. This experience was the first step in creating the idea behind Many Voices, One Song, and developing the Global Youth Neighborhood.

Many Voices, One Song is the initial exploratory stage in the creation of the Global Youth Neighborhood. An eight month, cross-cultural creative arts curriculum and assessment will take place from April 2007 until December 2007.

Phase I: The first phase will take place at Chen Ex, and will serve as an assessment of the international development education needs of the students. Children will keep weekly journals, respond to questions regarding global health issues, and being to learn about the culture, traditions and life-style of the children at the NFSC. The therapeutic music and art interventions will integrate these assessments into their objectives. Once a week, children will meet with a trained music therapist, to explore Ugandan culture, and begin the communication process by composing original songs with a variety of messages and thoughts to send to the children of the NFSC. Their music and messages will be recorded, to provide the first initial tracks of a CD. These songs, along with different musical dimensions, (i.e. bass lines, drum grooves, melodies, etc.) will travel to the NFSC in July, where the rest of the music recording will take place. The Chen-Ex students will create a quilt as the visual component to Many Voices, One Song. This quilt represents and reflects important aspects of their lives, including cultural celebrations, personal interests and societal concerns. Each student’s individual block combined into a singular quilt, representing the Chen-Ex community. This quilt will travel to Namugongo and act as a visual introduction to their Global Neighbors. This quilt will be displayed at the NFSC. Students of Belmont will participate in a photography project, where in they will keep a photographic and written journal as a method of self-exploration and expression to share with their Namugano peers.

Phase II: The second phase of Many Voices, One Song will take place in Namugongo, at each of its five centers. During this time, the team will assess the social and emotional needs of the children, the potential for the development of a creative arts program, and the feasibility of establishing and maintaining music, art, and technology oriented relationships with children in the United States.

The production of the CD will continue at the NFSC, where children will listen and react to the music the children wrote, performed, and recorded at Chen Ex. They will have songwriting workshops with the music therapist as well as local musicians, and will compose their own music which will be recorded and prepared to mix with the music from Chen Ex. Children will gain tools for self-expression, begin to learn about culture and traditions in the United States, and gain perspective on opportunities for personal growth and success through this experience. The children of Namugongo will create a quilt in response to the Chen-Ex quilt. This quilt will also include images designed and sewn by the children, including images reflecting their lives and culture. The completed quilt will travel to the US as a visual exchange with the Chen-Ex students: Students of Namugongo will participate in a photography project, where in they will keep a photographic and written journal as a method of self-exploration and expression to share with their Belmont peers.

Phase III: Upon returning from Uganda in August, Many Voices, One Song will take the raw art and music materials obtained from Chen Ex and the NFSC, and mix it into a final CD production and published book. These will serve as both a fundraising tool for the NFSC, and an advocacy tool for community youth partnerships. The assessment data collected will be evaluated, and a plan for further development will be made. The final release date for the CD and book is tentatively World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007.