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Introducing Children to Global Culture Through Music
BY: Matthew Hundley |
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Our children are all over the place with their musical tastes: our 5-year-old son likes anything with a good beat (from rock to bee-bop); our 8-year-old daughter likes Hannah Montana; our 10-year-old son is into alt country; and, our 12-year-old is into hip-hop and classic rock. Finding neutral ground for a road trip or in the house is not always easy. Oddly enough, we have found that they all enjoy music from other cultures.
Case-in-point, on a recent trip to Wisconsin we were listening to the Putumayo World compilation One World, Many Cultures. The kids fell in love with the track featuring Idan Raichel, who brings musicians from Israel, Ethiopia and other Middle Eastern countries together to produce riveting songs of faith and life.
This brings me to another key point I’ve noticed with music outside of the Western scope: there is no sacred/secular distinction. Faith is integral to life. This was very clear when we caught Ladysmith Black Mambazo in concert. They opened with a song of praise to Jesus Christ which left me in tears. The rest of the night they sang about love, learning, relationships, family, work, life in community all under the overarching embrace of faith. (Our children became fans of Ladysmith as well when they got to meet them in the lobby after the show.)
One of the record labels providing quality world music offerings for adults and children alike is Putumayo. What I appreciate about their compilations (they have released more than 60 to date) is that they take the time to research the artists, their countries, their customs. With the Putumayo Kids compilations--materials are run by parents, teachers and most importantly children first before they are selected for inclusion on CDs.
The folks at Putumayo have even developed curricula for schools and museums to teach about other cultures using music as a launching point. They have also brought key musical artists to zoos and museums, to bring quality world music to children around the globe.
In our house the Putumayo Kids compilations are like a magnet for attracting the children. While listening to CDs for this article I’d hear feet banging to the beat in our living room, or find children huddled around me in the office listening, or even occasionally peeking in to say, “I like that one.”
So what is Putumayo? The name is that of a river that begins in the South American country of Colombia and flows along the border of Ecuador and Peru until it reaches the Amazon in Brazil. Putumayo's founder, Dan Storper, had traveled to that region in the early 1970’s and was so enamored with its beauty, he decided to name his new handicraft shop after it. Later on the hand made mix tapes he played in these shops became such a hit that he chose to pursue the music business full time. Storper’s goal with the music label was to try to find universal music that all different people can enjoy.
Mona Kayhan, who works the educational side of the house for Putumayo Kids, believes their recordings “give the child and the parent a great way to learn about different cultures.” She says Putumayo’s goal is to get children and adults to hear and understand and appreciate music from all around the world. It's about exploration, it's about discovery and that comes through in each collection that Putumayo releases.
As Christians we need to see that when we introduce children (and grandchildren) to other cultures we introduce children to other children who also bear the image of God in their eyes, their faces, their smiles. Music is the one means of expression that can carry a message up and over language barriers. Children know happy and sad whether sung in English, Spanish, Hindi, Greek, Russian or Chinese.
When Christopher Wright speaks of the whole earth belonging to Jesus, I believe that the music of the whole earth belongs to him as well “by right of creation, by right of redemption and by right of future inheritance. We can learn much about God’s property and about ourselves by looking around us--and listening.
Music helps us understand cultures other than our own; ultimately music from other countries helps us to understand ourselves. I think of my own children’s lineage which draws from German, Irish, English, Scottish, Spanish and a touch of Navajo--music is one way to connect to these cultures. We have friends and family who have served as missionaries in China, Russia, Bulgaria, Croatia and other locations--music is one way we can connect to them. We have friends and acquaintances from Columbia, Brazil, Spain, Kenya, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Holland. While we have not been able to travel abroad, it has been wonderful having them share their lives and their music with us.
One of the cool things Putumayo has created to integrate the education side with the music are their activity kits. Right now they have kits for World Playground and Latin Playground. These come with a CD, a passport, and an activity book for teachers or parents to use. The books feature information about the various countries where the music originates along information about food, dress, customs, a few words, games and activities. There are also details about each song, the artist, the stories behind each song, and the lyrics for singing along.
For other CDs that don’t have booklets there are still very detailed liner notes which are presented in four languages: English, Spanish, French and German.
I highly recommend the CDs and educational materials presented in this article as gifts to children and grandchildren; and I commend them to you as well.
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Matthew Hundley
Matthew worked in television and advertising for nearly 15 years in Iowa and Ohio. He studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston and holds a B.S. in Broadcast Production & Management along with a B.A. in Critical Film Studies from the University of Colorado. At present he is working on his Masters of Divinity from Covenant Seminary.
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This year spring came late to southern Minnesota, and when it arrived it brought chilly temperatures, cloudy skies, and lots of rain. Whether it is because of these factors or something entirely different I don't know, but 2013 has turned out to be The Year of the Morel. If you have never sampled these delicious mushrooms, you are in for a treat. We've found them on more than one walk in the woods, and so feel we have had a special opportunity to experience one of the wonders of creation.
Morels, goldfinches, a well crafted film, an iris bursting into bloom, a chance for an unhurried conversation in a safe place--such glimmers of hope help us flourish as persons in this broken world. These are the sort of things we are concerned with at Ransom. Thanks for visiting.
Denis & Margie Haack
Anita Gorder
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