Two years ago, Annmari Wangin, a lecturer in methodology, supervision, brass education, brass studio, and wind orchestra methodology at the Ingesund School of Music, visited the Pendo Amani Youth Centre in the suburb of Juja on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. There, she taught and made music together with children and young people who were actively involved in music. This summer, she returned together with an Ingesund student. During their visit, they initiated a collaboration with the music education program at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. They also participated in a camp focused on arts activities at the Pendo Amani Youth Centre. The trip was made possible through several scholarships and in collaboration with the Kenya Association.
Pendo Amani provides activities for approximately 4,800 children and young people each year, offering leisure programs such as football, handball, dance, music production, music performance, and more. For the first time in the centre’s history, a summer camp was organized where 58 students participated in orchestra playing and dance. The young people were transported by bus to a school in Nairobi, where they lived, ate, rehearsed, and danced together, an experience that was significant and memorable for many of them.
A total of eight people from Sweden, all involved in teaching or studying arts-related subjects, visited the camp through the Kenya Association. Annmari Wangin travelled with an Erasmus scholarship, while Nellie Nickel, a student in the music teacher education program at the Ingesund School of Music, received scholarships from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and the Folke Bernadotte Memorial Fund. Together with the Swedish delegation, they took part in several guest performances at the camp.
“We started with physical warm-ups and breathing exercises, followed by scales and instrument tuning,” says Annmari Wangin. “We rehearsed five pieces of music in various genres, including folk music, pop, and classical music. At first, some of us visitors conducted and taught the pieces, and later their own conductor, Mercyline, conducted two of the works under our guidance. We also held sectional rehearsals with all instrumental groups to demonstrate methods for learning new repertoire. As everyone can imagine, spending so much time together made a tremendous difference in the quality of the playing. Afterwards, we were just as happy as the young musicians.”
The Swedish guests also mentored the camp’s teachers, including instruction in conducting techniques.
“We demonstrated different methods for working with younger children on musical expression, articulation, rhythm, and much more,” says Annmari Wangin. “They learn incredibly fast and are constantly eager to learn more. Throughout the day, groups of younger children watched and occasionally joined in some of the exercises. When we conducted, they imitated us and conducted with plastic spoons. At the young musicians’ request, we also played in the orchestra ourselves. They wanted us to serve as role models in orchestral performance. We worked from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a lunch break. It was so much fun that time simply flew by.”
“The main thing I take away from this day is the children’s incredible joy in music and their strong desire to learn,” says Nellie Nickel.
The visit concluded with a performance featuring both traditional and contemporary music and dance.
“The orchestra performed the five pieces we had worked on, representing a variety of genres,” says Annmari Wangin. “Their own conductor, Mercyline, led two of the pieces. When the concert ended, Mercyline gave a speech thanking the orchestra and us teachers from Sweden. Then Mercy, the dance teacher, thanked the dancers. After that, three parents stood up and spoke about how happy they were that their children had been able to attend the camp. They said they had never before seen such joy among the young people as they witnessed while they were playing music and dancing.”
“The remarkable driving force behind the centre, Michael M. Wachira, has run it since 2008 and, through extraordinary dedication, reaches approximately 4,800 children in the area every year. Together with my colleagues, and now also with one of my students, I have had the privilege of meeting incredibly positive, warm, and curious young people. We have taught them orchestral performance and how they, in turn, can become role models and teach younger students at the centre. Being a small part of contributing to this camp has been truly extraordinary and something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”
“When we asked them after the final night how they had slept, they replied that they had stayed up half the night playing music together,” says Nellie Nickel. “For the first time, they could keep their instruments with them around the clock instead of only having access to them for a few hours in the afternoon. It was a dream come true for them, and it was wonderful to witness. They were also highly skilled musicians, not only on their primary instruments but on other instruments as well, which they had learned from their friends at the centre.
“The happiness they radiated during those days is something we do not see as often in Sweden, but I hope to inspire that same enthusiasm in my future students. The sense of community and the open, welcoming environment they created together is something I will strive to spread wherever I go, and something I intend to incorporate into my own teaching.”
Read more about the activities of the Pendo Amani Centre.
