'Nostalgia'

Lucas and Maite have trained a group of teachers and therapists, mainly working at the Hope Flowers School in Bethlehem, Palestine.

This week we worked for six days with twelve teachers and therapists – all women -  from the Hope Flowers School in Bethlehem. The school also invited some teachers from other (public) schools in Palestine and together they were a diverse, dynamic and enthusiastic group of trainees, willing to explore the field of creative music making with us.

When we work with people and organisations, we love those that choose non-violence as an answer to the critical situation they live in. Those who wish - like us - that people should be able to co-exist, no matter their nationality, culture, religion or village they come from. Therefore, the Hope Flowers School is a great partner, as they focus on a non-violent and democratic approach to education, in which children with different religious backgrounds come together and learn how to be more empathic, deal with conflicts in a positive way and see possibilities for their future. The school also specialises in education for children with special needs and children with more complicated traumas, a speciality that is pretty unique in the West Bank. They even have a special room for occupational therapy, called a multi-sensory room.

We support the team of teachers and therapists in developing leadership skills, empathic listening skills, creativity and flexibility, which is very important in their work with children with special needs. We also support the team in finding and using their own creative voices and how music can be a means to release emotions or daily frustrations, by expressing their stories in music.

We love to share with you the lyrics of the song they’ve written: “Al Hanin”, which means nostalgia:

Part 1: 
We miss you, sea
We miss you, sea
You have been deprived from our visit
I swear it’s only because of the checkpoints
That you have been deprived from seeing us
To those who live near you, lucky them
Because they see your waves 

Part 2:
Don’t see my heart as a stone
My heart is transparent and rare
I don’t like people passing by, only those who stay
 
When I saw it I could not recognise it
But then I realised its perfume and roses
Made of stone, human and jasmine roses

Part 3: 
Under the pineapple tree we sit
We sing for our country, and sit on the swing
We’ve found our ancestors, we’re so happy
We sing for our country, hoping to be young again
To be young again (6x)