Drumming up confidence

Tribal sounds drummed throughout a school hall as young children were introduced to African culture through music and dance.

The children stomped their feet and beat their drums alongside Gambian master percussionist, Musa M’boob. Musa and his wife, Mam Lowe, flew in from the UK recently to conduct a two-day African rhythm and dance workshop to Year Four, and a few Year One pupils at St Christopher’s School in Saar.

The children spent their time drumming on Djembe and Darabooka drums as the duo, dressed in traditional African attire, taught them how to feel the rhythm using different techniques on the drums through a dance called Pitam.

Musa has drummed his beats across Europe helping young people grow in confidence and he believes he can do the same with the children in Bahrain.

Musa, 49, who lives in the English coastal town of Brighton, said: "The workshop is a brilliant idea to teach young kids about other cultures as well as build up their confidence.

"These children are already cultured but the drumming also builds their concentration, memory and social skills, which I have seen particularly with many of the quiet ones.

"I come from a family of musicians. My father, Doudou, was a top drummer in West Africa, so music is in my blood and conducting these workshops is a way of teaching other people how it can be a way of life.

"I teach schoolchildren around the UK how to drum, dance and sing. I call myself Musa M’boob Mbalahal, which translates to ‘Musa M’boob playing the drum’. The workshops I provide are very educational.

"We also teach the children specific African words. By doing this we encourage them to go home and find out more about the culture, ask questions and research. It’s very exciting to learn new words."

Pupils in Year Four learn about African music and dance through the school curriculum so music teacher Rachel McLeod decided this would be the perfect opportunity for them to gain knowledge of the culture by experiencing it firsthand. She said: "The children clearly had so much fun. It’s an authentic and refreshing way to introduce them into the culture.

"In St Christopher’s School we teach students the five pillars of learning. Among these are broadening the sense of living in a wider world, being in a diverse world and learning to be an effective global citizen.

"The workshop was the perfect way to incorporate this into their learning. They are working with people from a completely different culture to them and get to meet them in the flesh. It also helps with their co-ordination, listening skills and communication. It is beneficial in so many ways. Hopefully, we will have plenty more workshops like these in the future."

Musa and Mam also belted out classic African nursery rhymes, as well as one of Musa’s own songs, that he and his band XamXam perform regularly entitled Dunya, which translates to ‘the world’.

As one group of children were given specific beats to drum, the others were given lyrics that accompanied the Pitam dance. Musa also assisted the children to play the various African drums including the Talking Drum, Lamba, Bombom and Kungu.

Musa started drumming at the age of nine when he became intrigued with the instrument whilst watching his father, a renowned master drummer. He started travelling from The Gambia to the UK in 1978 and received a certificate of recognition as the No.1 Percussionist in The Gambia during his performance at the Gambian Cultural Festival in 1988, before moving to Brighton in 1995.

He is married to Mam, and although she doesn’t regularly join in on his workshops, her love for singing and dancing persuaded Musa to encourage her to join him on his trip to Bahrain.

Musa and Mam have been married for 23 years and have four children, Doudou, 22, who was named after his grandfather, Awa, 19, Ebrahim,17, and Rilwan,12, who, although haven’t picked up the subject professionally, share the same love for music and dance that their parents do and have inherited the ability to play a number of instruments, including the drums.

Mam, 47, said: "I have always grown up with music around me because music is in our culture. I enjoy singing and dancing very much although no one in my family was a musician. My love for it has fuelled this passion to help other people in the field.

"It is good for people’s physical health and it’s entertaining. In Africa we believe the nature of life is all in drums. We use it to forget all the anger, build up self-confidence as well as creativity. The kids can take that away with them when they go home."

A new academy open to the community will launch at St Christopher’s School in Saar next year. Rachel hopes that this will open the opportunity to include more performing arts and music workshops.