In 2002, Pascale took her old songbook and with the help of Vaheed Kaacemy, an Afghan-Canadian composer and performer who is keenly interested in the history of Afghan music, complied “Children’s Songs from Afghanistan” and an accompanying 60-minute CD. And the Afghan Children’s Songbook Project began. The songbooks are distributed to children in elementary schools, orphanages and women’s centers across Afghanistan where there are few resources available. To date, 10,000 songbooks have been distributed across Afghanistan and another 5,000 will be distributed in early 2009.
Louise Pascale, associate professor at Lesley University, spoke to students at Charles River School in Dover about her efforts to reintroduce music into Afghanistan
Charles River School students learn about Afghan Children's Songbook Project
By Staff reports
Mon Mar 09, 2009, 03:17 PM EDT
Dover -
On March 3, Louise Pascale, associate professor at Lesley University, spoke to students at Charles River School in Dover about her efforts to reintroduce music into Afghanistan. According to Pascale, by the early 1990s, the Taliban had banned all music in areas under their control. The only music allowed was religious chants. A former Peace Corps volunteer during the late 1960s, Pascale had compiled a small songbook of 16 songs which she taught to children in schools around Kabul. Over the years, she followed the news about Afghanistan and wondered what had happened to the children she taught and their music.
In 2002, Pascale took her old songbook and with the help of Vaheed Kaacemy, an Afghan-Canadian composer and performer who is keenly interested in the history of Afghan music, complied “Children’s Songs from Afghanistan” and an accompanying 60-minute CD. And the Afghan Children’s Songbook Project began. The songbooks are distributed to children in elementary schools, orphanages and women’s centers across Afghanistan where there are few resources available. To date, 10,000 songbooks have been distributed across Afghanistan and another 5,000 will be distributed in early 2009.
The distribution is made possible by the efforts of committed individuals from organizations such as Save the Children, Youth Educational Services, HOPE International, Afghan Women’s Organization, American Friendship Foundation and others. They report that the songbooks are valued not only as a connection to Afghan musical culture but also as a basic literacy tool.
The third-grade class at Charles River School has been learning about Afghanistan as part of its study of the Middle East and performed an Afghan song for Pascale that they had learned in music class. She in turn played many of the songs from the CD and taught the students the Afghan equivalent of our alphabet song.
“Music is something the students can really relate to,” said teacher Nicole Mladenoff. “This was a really good insight into the Afghan culture and the power of the Taliban.”
For more information about the Afghan Children’s Songbook, please go to www.facone.org.
