Singing

Most evenings before we eat supper my host family and I gather in the courtyard. Everyone is present; we share stories about our day, play games, dance and mostly laugh. A few nights ago, just as the darkness of night was beginning to inch across the sky and stars began brightly piercing through, someone began singing. By the second measure of the song everyone had joined in, not only with their voices, but also with hands clapping and bodies swaying.

Music is a medium that moves me; sometimes it’s the words, sometimes it’s the tune of a song, and sometimes it’s the musicality of how a composer links music and words to more emphatically convey the message. Singing with my host family in Kotido was no different. Although their voices didn’t always blend and sometimes the songs dissolved into mass chaos; the tunes moved me beyond myself, and when the words were translated I was amazed at their simple yet obedient message of faithfulness to Jesus. One song translated:

How happy are the people

When they gather together

To pray in the house of the Lord.

That evening in my host family’s courtyard where we were gathered became a house of the Lord, and I’m sure that God heard our songs of praise.In my opinion the voices of my host family in Kotido sound bolder than I am used to in comparison with my Western perspective. It’s not necessarily a good or bad thing; I find myself missing four-part-harmony as well, but I have appreciated a new way to engage with music, and have savored the moments of music I have experienced here in Kotido.

Okay, so this doesn't actually have anything to do with singing but, it is some of the happy music makers. I brought some books with me to Kotido, in this picture Margret, Anna, Peter and I are enjoying the last bit of natural light to look through the books