Singing along

Last week we were asked if we could help out at one of the centres today. Our first understanding was that they were taking part in some sort of singing competition and wanted us to do some of our songs with them with the ukulele. When we got there today, it transpired that they were in fact in some sort of contest organised by the Ministry of Public Health. They had already got through the first stages and were now competing at the provincial level.

It seemed a bit like a mini, health-focused OFSTED, with various inspectors present, meeting with the teachers and members of the parents' committee, and observing what was going on at the school. Children were selected at random from the different classes and taken off to the bathroom to demonstrate that they knew how to wash their hands and brush their teeth! I noticed that the children were given copious quantities of fruit for mid-morning snack, with no sign of the ubiquitous crisps and snacks that the children usually bring to school and munch away on at will.

Our contribution was to sing the "Washing Hands Song" that we have taught them. We stayed the entire morning, waiting for our moment, which finally came just before lunch. The children were not quite as lively as normal when we sing, which is possibly just as well, but they sang along and did the actions beautifully. The inspectors listened for a while, and then got up and wandered away - typical school inspector behaviour! We don't know the outcome yet, but I doubt our singing is likely to have swung it either way!

We don't have any footage of today's efforts, but last week we did video the children at another centre singing along with the ukulele. They are possibly our most enthusiastic singers, and can be viewed here.
In case you are having difficulty identifying Old McDonald's animals, on this occasion they were:

• dog
• buffalo
• pig
• elephant
• kangaroo
• tiger

We have also known him to have a monkey; snake; frog; snail; turtle; rabbit; butterfly; dinosaur - as well as the more usual chicken, cow, horse, cat and duck.
Whatever else we may have achieved, we have certainly brought a great deal of fun and enjoyment to the children with the singing!