AIDS you’re a bad man…
You killed my mom, you killed my dad,
AIDS you’re a bad man, AIDS you’re a bad man.
You killed my brothers, you killed my sister,
AIDS you’re a bad man, AIDS you’re a bad man.
I had my mom, I had my dad,
AIDS you killed them, AIDS you’re a bad man.
AIDS you leave this world, AIDS you leave this world…
I call upon my friends across the world, to join me in the fight against AIDS.
AIDS you’re a bad man, you’re a bad man.
AIDS you’re a bad man, you’re a bad man.
This song was written by a twelve year old boy that lost both his parents to AIDS. He is one of the eighty children we have been working with at the after school program. We started off the program with a week of introductions, singing, dancing, risk taking, immense laughter, choice making, and as I learned the importance of in my music therapy internship, some serious clinical fun. It wasn’t just the number of children that was initially overwhelming, it was the fact that every single child we met could benefit from this project.
Every child in this program has emotional and psychosocial needs.
Every child has a story to tell.
Every child that sits against a tree with their broken pencil and piece of paper is eager to be a part of something that is hoping to support them in a new way… we have been trying to figure out exactly how to do this in just a few weeks.
So far, the goals that I have had for the music making part of this project have been to provide a safe and comfortable place for the children to make choices, take risks, encourage creative and emotional expression, and to smile and laugh their bums off for the few hours we work with them a day. We certainly laugh. We absolutely smile. Some children are just beginning to take risks. A few are making their own choices. Yet, after our first songwriting workshop this week, I remembered how much work is involved to support and encourage creativity and emotional expression with children who have never had a place to do this before.
We are so very lucky to have amazing after-school teachers and local musicians to work with. I was struggling to generate an experience which is balanced between what we can provide them with, and what their teachers and peers can provide, but things have really fallen into a good place. Alan, the after school teacher at one of the centers has been working with the children daily to help write letters, tell their stories, and compose lyrics to songs. His alacrity and passion towards this project and the children is amazing. We’ve also enlisted the consulting services of Super Charger, a Ugandan musician that sings and educates about HIV/AIDS. He joined us this week to help develop “AIDS is a Bad Man.” It was wonderful for the kids to be able to look up to and work with people they know and trust, and with whom they can continue to work with once we leave. It’s just what we want this project to become as it develops.
This upcoming week, we are continuing to write music, create dances, take pictures, tell stories, and are beginning to plan our big performance/gallery show to showcase the talent and hard work that everyone has put in with this project. Let the creative juices keep flowing!
