During their second visit to the village of Farkha, Al-Mada Association collaborated with the Farkha Village Council and the village’s children to create a song titled “For a Brighter Future.”
Their songwriting process involves games and exercises that guide the children to gather stories and ideas about their village, as well as exercises that expose them to simple and intuitive ways of composing melodies for the text they wrote together.
The Al-Mada team shares: “For this song, the children wrote sentences which reflected themes such as: courage, not giving up, cooperation, caring for each other, caring for and keeping the land, and defending the village springs, Gaza, as well as freedom. The song begins with a strong connection to the land ‘We shall till the land and plant our words in it, so that our seeds grow in it.’ It continues with wishes of freedom and an outlook for a better and brighter outlook, and a sense of being part of making this future brighter through ‘giving all that they can give.’ To put the song in context, Farkha is a village in Salfit governorate, south of Nablus. It is threatened and attacked by settlers, and its land and water springs are being annexed by the Israeli settler expansion.”
Al-Mada Association is a grantee partner of the Global Statelessness Fund. Based in the West Bank, Palestine, the association works with Palestinian children between the ages of 7 and 13, using theatre, music, and creative writing activities to provide opportunities for self-expression and well-being. Learn more about their work on their website.
Photo credit: Al-Mada Association