Music therapy ends on high note
Children of Fire find joy in playground concert
ACONCERT at the Children of Fire home in Auckland Park, Joburg, yesterday began with 30 excited kids singing Pharrell Williams’s song Happy.
There were slight audio glitches but nothing could bring them down as they sang their “wake-up” song.
The outdoor concert held on their playground was the celebratory end to a music therapy workshop that lasted a week.
Shaun James, who ran the workshop and put together the show, was as excited as the kids he led through song, breathing and listening exercises.
James is a member of the British Corps Army musicians and has been involved with the Children of Fire organisation for several years.
The charity helps young survivors of burn injuries (whether by fire, chemicals, electricity or hot liquids) in Africa, and helps to educate communities, providing both prevention and cure.
About the workshop, James said: “This musical workshop is a pilot scheme and has been designed to give teachers the basic skills to give students a new start to the school day. The aim is improved academic results for pupils across the whole school in the spheres of numeracy, literacy and lin- guistics.”
James said he had already witnessed the positive effects of the week-long workshop and hoped these would continue.
“Music therapy is a proven tool and with some extra elements in listening and performance, the children have experienced a musical wake-up for voice, body and mind. There are additional benefits to be gained in the areas of physical and mental health, self-awareness, confidence, teamwork, problem-solving and creative thinking,” he said.
A guest at the concert was musical comedian Daniel Friedman, also known as Deep Fried Man. He took part in a jamming session with the kids. Friedman said he got involved with the charity years ago.
“I’ve known Bronwen (Jones) for about 10 years. I started when I wanted to be a psychologist. Then you needed to volunteer somewhere and I came here. After about three months it became clear that I wasn’t going to become a psychologist but I kept in touch with Bronwen,” he said.
He played an acoustic version of a house song that had the kids dancing in delight.
“All the songs they had practised were international so I thought we’d do something local. So we did Jika by MiCasa. I removed the second verse because it isn’t child friendly,” he said laughing.