Singing for Chernobyl

So a strange thing happened to me at my choir's rehearsal yesterday. We were preparing to perform at a concert for Children in Chernobyl and signing a wonderful song from Hawaii called E Malama and when we got to the words 'Hold this land in sacredness' I just had to weep. I sat down and buried my face in my hands. People were great and I was naturally embarassed and lost my usual English sense of reseve. Maybe it was the inner Wlshman coming out. This helped cope with the concert especially hearing the heartrending thngs that happened to all especially the children. Here's my my formal piece:

Hold this land in sacredness

I am not sure how much you can change the world for the better by singing; but certainly we know that choirs can improve the health of their members and probably their audiences too. And a choir can lend it support to people and causes that make a difference. That was so with the Manchester Community Choir’s concert yesterday in support of the Chernobyl Children’s project. It has been 30 years since the nuclear power station disaster at Chernobyl and it was heartrending to hear of the suffering that still continues to this day but also uplifting to hear what help was being offered especially to the children still affected by nuclear radiation. Our choice of songs reflected this situation. We sang Durme a poignant Judaeo Spanish lullaby from Sarajevo and E Malama a Hawaiian song that includes the line ‘Hold this land in sacredness’. Besides our choir there were some lovely uplifting songs from Linda Harvey, Russian music from the Manchester Balalaika Youth Orchestra, and some moving words written by people affected by the disaster read out by Artists for Peace. It is not too late to support the project more details from














Chernobyl Children's Project - Supporting the Children of Belarus

Welcome to the Chernobyl Children's Project (UK) homepage. CCP (UK) supports families in Belarus that have been effected by the Chernobyl disaster.



chernobyl-children.org.uk

Poem

Lying in the bed

In pain

I hear the birds sing