Harambee - Day 3 - Monday

The day began with the parents meeting. Following this our children ages 2-7 had a drumming workshop with a wonderful West African man named Fana Soro. They spent 45 minutes learning some wonderful drumming, singing, and rhythm. It was amazing how they listened and learned and were able to follow his music and then repeat it after him.

Being Taught to Be HAPPY While Drumming

After this was done we headed to the gum for a West African Dance Workshop with the Miyanda girls. These girls are amazing! Their group was birthed from a class about seven years ago. Fana, the drum teacher, is also the leader of the Miyanda girls. Two of his daughters are in this class. Apparently, they did so well that this group has now made many appearances. They are heading to Scotland for a tour sometime this year. All our children, except for Cassidy participated in this class.


Our days are incredibly full and I am run off my feet. I could choose to do nothing, but that is not for me! I have an opportunity here for my children to break into different age brackets and have the chance to learn African dancing, drumming, and music. Why would I not jump for that?


Each day there are two attachment therapy sessions. Since I have kids in both age groups I end up in therapy for three hours a day! But oh, it is so worth it!!! I have parented for many years, but this is parenting that I have never heard before. And I can see it is just what makes the best sense.

I had heard that there was a lot of problems with biological kids not being properly attached to their parents, and it was due to the fact that society is not supportive of attachment: daycare, working parents, extra curricular activities, Nintendo, cell phones, chat rooms, MSN – all things that detract from an attachment with their parents and siblings.

When I attended this seminar it really showed exactly how it works and how it affects our own family, even though we do not do: daycare, working parent (s), too many extra curricular activities, very, very minor Nintendo, no cell phones, no chat rooms, and no MSA. And yet, there are many things that we do do that do not foster attachment. And we are just your typical family! Talk about enlightening!

While I have those sessions going on the Austi had his Marimba workshop. This is where they learn to play on these monster sized xylophones. They make beautiful music! The instructors would go around and teach each boy or girl their part and they would then be practicing as the teachers taught the next student.


As soon as this was over, Cassidy entered the classroom for his Marimba workshop. The classes are divided for 2-7 year olds, and then 8-12 year olds, and finally 13-18 years old. There is even a Parents only Marimba and I heard them play after one practice – un.be.liev.able! I should have taken the class and next year I think I will – when I have a husband here to see that my children get to each of their classes! It is pretty busy when you are the only one here and have children running in different directions all day, plus you are trying to get in three hours of therapy for yourself! Lol

Right after the Marimba classes Austin went on to a hip hop class. The neat thing is at the end of the week all of this work will pay off when they do a production.


In the middle of the day we were told there was an emergency parents meeting. I wondered if it was something bad, but was told it was something exciting. We all came wondering what on earth it could be. Then they told us the teens needed to be there, so we got our teenagers to join us.

And then they sprang the surprise on us. One of the coordinators had heard that Rihanna (sp) was going to be performing in Penticton, while we were at Harambee. People spoke to people and a few people made some big efforts, and they put out the request to Rihanna's people about the possibility of her donating tickets for our kids to be able to see her in concert.

At 11:00 am there was information that there might be a possibility. And then surprise of surprise, at about 12:00 noon that day there was a call from Rihanna’s people: they had 224 tickets for the Harambee group! Not only did they have tickets, they were floor tickets – tickets worth $168 plus tax each! Very generous!

One of Rihanna's People

For those that don’t know, Rihanna is a singer. My family do not know her because we don’t listen to much mainstream music. When I had heard that they might get tickets I knew I would have a decision to make. Do we go or not?

Well, when the meeting came together and the announcement was made and one of Rihanna’s ‘people’ showed up with the tickets, it was pretty exciting. And it was easy to get caught up in the hype.

We made the decision to go.

And then, a friend said, “You might like to check out the Utube videos of her concert and listen to what she sings." So I did. I had Cassidy and Austin watch and they made the decision on their own not to go.

Now, people may think they were coerced. But no. They have been raised to treat girls with respect and to view modesty as important. What they saw in her dress and the way she behaved on the stage did not make them comfortable.

And yes! It was a bit hard for my 11 year old to know that his friends were going, but then blessing of blessings, it turned out that both Cassidy and Austin’s friends weren’t allowed to go. We were not the only family that turned down the tickets (For us: about $1400 worth of seats). Other people who were not comfortable with their children going also stayed home.

But they ones that went said they had a marvelous time, and many said it opened up good discussions with their children. I am sure it did. As an ex-teenager myself (grin), it wasn’t easy to toss up the idea of the show that the concert turned out to be. But I knew that if I opened that door to that kind of music, I was opening the door to bringing it into the house.

Also, really every family is different, and everyone has to make their own choice. If my children were in the mainstream schools, my decision might well have been to go to the concert and use it as a teaching tool.

Each day is so full that I barely have time to sit down. Now I could make this a holiday of rest and relaxation with books, beach and deck chair, but really, why? I can do that anytime. This is the time to fill up with all these remarkable classes and experiences! And I am not doing that much really. It is just that I have children in all the age brackets and I do not want them to miss out on their opportunities!
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Harmabee - Day 2 - Sunday

We slept well and then the next morning it was up early (well, not really, but after our late night it sure felt early!) for the coffee meeting in the big tent. This is where all kinds of things were discussed: what would happen all week, the events, the speakers, going over a few rules etc.

After this the kids and parents all congregated for the Bike Safety School.The children had to pledge to follow the road rules. They then had to sign a paper stating they knew they would so many warnings, depending on age, followed by a 24 hour suspension, followed by the loss of their bike for a week.

Stop and look at intersections
Wear helmets
Don't ride on the grass
Don't park on the concrete by cabins
Ride on the right side of the road
Stop for pedestrians and cars

Trust me, I had a lot of explaining to do to get each and every one of these rules (and a few more) in to the heads of four children: 5, 5, 7, and 7!!

Pledging to Follow Rules

They were then issued their licenses, which were applied to the backs of their helmets.We headed out to check out the surrounding areas. There was much to do with a bike jumping area, with trails, a playground, and then streets all through this compound that is run by the United Church

The Kids at the Bike Jumps

Out on the main grass area there was a FUN ZONE set up for the day. This was five of those wonderful rented play structures.

Old Friendships From Mehaber Camp!

Because today was Sunday, there was a lot of freetime. The classes and lessons start on Monday. Our week will be full! There are drumming lessons, hip hop dance classes, and then lessons by the Miyanda girls. There are also art sessions, plus there are ladies who will do hair (beading, braiding, straightening etc). There are lots of activities planned for the youth.

After we had dinner, we headed to the main grass area. This week there is the World Cup Soccer Games going on. There are four teams:

Canada, Africa,USA, and Caribbean. If you are adopted then you can sign for the country you were adopted from. If you were not adopted then you sign for the country that your child came from. So Cassidy signed for Africa. Tonights game was 1.5 hours long and was Africa versus the Caribbean.


It has been a lot of fun getting to know different mums. There are so many to talk to that you don’t run out of people to talk to. My time has been very full just keeping on top of where my children are and going to functions.

I had a wonderful surprise when I arrived yesterday. I was looking for the corner store and as I was driving down a road I stopped to ask for directions from a lady. She was leaning over her trunk of her car, and as she turned around we both said, “HEY!”


It was the one person from my adoption seminar that I have kept in touch with! It was SO awesome to see her! She brought her little girl home from Haiti in December.

After the soccer game there was a Family “Jump Up”Dance. They played some fun music for a couple hours and everyone had a good time dancing. It was Caribbean Style Dance Carnival.


Savannah was simply amazing at the dancing. That girl has rhythm! She seriously does her own thing and you can feel and see the beat based on the moves that she chooses. I have had numerous people tell me that she can dance. I am going to do my best to get her to teach herself for the time being, since we don’t have anything for her in our town. It is apparent to me that she just needs some examples to follow. I noticed that when the Miyanda girls were dancing Savannah watched them and then followed their moves, and then when they stopped she moved on til she found an adult that was dancing and then began to learn from them.


There was more going on, but I was too busy to attend!The boys are still working on their memory work, fitting it in around their busy days. They are nearly at the end of their hard work, and it will really pay off when they get to spend a week at Bible camp this summer. This is a bigger function than Mehaber and much more detailed in its organization. I love Mehaber and can’t wait til next years camp, but this is wonderful in another way!
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Hula Dancing

Raine has begun hula dancing, and she is seriously good at it. When I picked her up after her first lesson, the teacher told me she was good. The next week, she told me she was the best in the class. When I observed her lesson on the third week I could see why she spoke as she did. Raine had learned the entire song in three weeks! There are many, many moves and they just flowed so naturally out of her.

This teacher is very good at what she teaches and has been in many competitions, plus having been to Hawaii multiple times taking lessons from real hula teachers. She tells me that she will be taking the children to competitions in the Big City, but will probably wait a year til she does so. That sounds very exciting, as Raine is really enjoying herself.

This class just began in September and already they have been heard about by people in town. So a couple weeks ago their little class was asked to perform at the old folks home in town. Ray took Raine with Austin and so I didn't get any recordings. Well, I did, but I didn't think you would want to see the floor or the heads of the people. *smile*

We will have future opportunities to showcase her dancing and at that time I will show you. In the meantime, here are some pictures that they took of the little dancer.

Waiting Back Stage

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Normally, Raine dances in barefeet, but here she is in her studio dress and town shoes.
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