Hasa Diga Eebowai!!!

We have a "student' concert at our women's music camp on Saturday night. It's always funny, touching, poignant, amazing and sometimes over the top hysterical. Shelley (on the right) always brings a dramatic flair to the stage - this year it was a bit from The Book of Mormon (the Broadway show, not the book!): Hasa Diga Eebowai. In a nutshell, this piece is about some Mormons who go on mission to Africa to teach the natives about Jesus and about the "right" way to live; the natives teach them a thing or two about how they cope with the extreme hardships of their daily lives by singing and shouting "Hasa Diga Eebowai!" (Here's a YouTube link to the song; be warned, it contains strong language, which was cleaned up for our concert.) The irony is the comparison of what each considers hardships - drought, hunger, AIDS and war vs. lost luggage and late buses.

I had the honor of teaching a class called Shy Singers, a sort of support group for women who struggle with fear of singing, stage fright or who just need more confidence in getting their voices heard. Some of them have been silenced all their lives in some pretty cruel ways (how many of you were told you couldn't/shouldn't sing when you were a child?) and want to recover their voices and their innate love of music. It's a privilege to witness and facilitate this opening, and all the women in the class got on stage last night and sang! It was a beautiful thing.

View a slideshow of more music camp happenings.