Amidst the sound of big drums and datong (A type of Chinese bowed string instrument), accompanied by the resonating melodies of large suonas (a type of Chinese wind instrument), the Wu Qieba and Wu Xiaba balance trays on their heads, hold tables in their mouths, and dance their way from the kitchen to the dining tables. They arrange the dishes in a manner reminiscent of setting up chess pieces. "A Nanjian serving dance performance takes place at the banquet.
" Nanjian serving dance " is a unique tradition in Yunnan Province, China, combining dance, music, acrobatics, and gastronomy. It is an essential folk activity at major events such as grand festivals, weddings, and funerals in the Yi ethnic minority-inhabited areas around Ailao Mountain and Wuliang Mountain in Nanjian County. In 2008, it was included in the second batch of China's national intangible cultural heritage list, and Nanjian County was designated as the "Chinese Folk Nanjian serving dance Culture Art Village" by the Ministry of Culture in the same year.
In this land with a distinctive Yi ethnic music culture, at the end of this year, the LY Foundation of and the Yunnan Heart to Heart Community Foundation jointly launch the "Accompany with Music" Program for Songlin Primary School in Bixi Township, Nanjian County. Collaborating with the Nanjian County Xixin Care Social Work Service Center (referred to as "Nanjian Xixin"), they will combine local ethnic cultural characteristics with modern music, using the power of love and music to provide daily companionship and social work services. This initiative aims to offer children the companionship of music and social care, reducing their feelings of loneliness and helplessness.
The project site, Songlin Primary School in Bixi Township, Nanjian County, is located in a remote area at an altitude of 2,180 meters with a cold climate. The school has 258 students, including grades 1-6 and a kindergarten, with over 40 preschool children. Songlin Primary School is also a boarding school, with over 200 boarding students, including Yi and Miao ethnic minorities.
Songlin Village, the main source of students for Songlin Primary School, is in a mountainous area with the primary economic activities being tobacco farming and walnut cultivation. Due to geographical constraints and other factors, economic development has been slow, and household incomes are low. Some young adults from the village migrate for work. Among the students of Songlin Primary School, there is a significant number of left-behind children and children in difficulty, with over 80 registered impoverished families and 84 left-behind children whose parents work away from home.
Left-behind children are defined as minors under the age of sixteen whose parents are both working away from home or where one parent is away for work and the other is unable to provide care.
Children in Difficulty include those facing difficulties in life, medical care, and education due to family poverty, as well as children with disabilities facing challenges in rehabilitation, care, social integration, and those who are threatened or harmed in terms of personal safety due to lack of appropriate care or improper guardianship.
(Source: Child Welfare Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, "Guidelines for Child Welfare Work," 2019)
Due to the lack of parental companionship and communication with the outside world, the emotional needs of the left-behind children and children in difficulty at Songlin Primary School often go unmet. Many of these children's parents are preoccupied with making a living, and lack the capacity to provide companionship to their children. Some parents, especially those working away from home, often go for extended periods without contacting their children. This results in a particularly pronounced lack of parental companionship for left-behind children, leading to a detachment in parent-child relationships and clear emotional deficiencies. It also makes these children susceptible to developing psychological issues, such as emotional fragility, significant mood swings, low self-esteem, depression, loneliness, low trust, and a low sense of self-efficacy. At the behavioral level, they may exhibit symptoms like difficulty concentrating, social withdrawal, truancy, and internet addiction.
The emotional fragility caused by the absence of parental companionship is particularly evident when left-behind children and children in difficulty adapt to boarding school life. "We have talked to the children, and many of them feel homesick at night and have trouble sleeping, or they miss playing outside. Especially when they first start school, they don't know what to do at night in the dormitory, it's dark, and after the lights are turned off, no one can talk, so they are very afraid," said Yang Lijuan, the head of Nanjian Xixin, when describing the results of visits to Songlin Primary School.
With parents unable to provide support for learning and daily life, the school and community lack the resources to offer extracurricular activities that address the emotional needs of these children. While Songlin Primary School has 20 teachers, most of them are older, with only one-third being young teachers. Due to limitations in teaching resources and facilities, the school has very limited art-related courses. Additionally, the community's public service resources are scarce, leaving many children without access to music, dance, sports, and cultural education.
In this context of an imbalance between the emotional needs and support for left-behind children and children in difficulty at Songlin Primary School, the "Accompany with Music" was created to supplement rural arts education and psychological support. Over the course of one year, this program will leverage the power of music and companionship. Through continuous companionship from social workers and volunteers, it aims to broaden the interests and horizons of the children, boost their self-confidence and self-identity, improve their social interaction and adaptability, and reduce issues like school dropout and behavioral problems among children in difficulty. Specifically, the one-year project will involve the following activities:
1. Establish a Music Sharing Space: Set up a children's music space in the community or school, equipped with basic musical instruments, and involve children in the development of the space.
2. Conduct Music Interest Groups: Offer various music groups that incorporate modern music and local ethnic cultural features, allowing children to improve their social skills and self-confidence through participation in music interest groups and daily companionship services, expanding their peer circles and social support networks.
3. Form "Little Bands": Building on the foundation of the interest groups, nurture children's bands to develop their teamwork and self-management skills. Invite professional volunteers to assist in rehearsing music programs that incorporate ethnic cultural education, enhancing the children's sense of self-identity and confidence in their cultural heritage.
4. Organize Interest Group Performance Activities: Coordinate performances and presentations by members of the music companionship interest groups at festivals, activities organized by community social workers, and those organized by the Yunnan Heart to Heart Community Foundation.
5. Provide Support and Companionship for Children in Difficulty: Identify the needs of children in difficulty and provide ongoing in-depth companionship through the local social work team to help them better cope with adversity.
6. Online and Offline Promotion and Fundraising Activities: Conduct online and offline promotional activities and assist Nanjian Xixin in targeted donations of local resources for the implementation of the Accompany with Music in the Nanjian area.
Prior to serving the left-behind and children in difficulty in Songlin Primary School in Nanjian, the Accompany with Music has already been implemented in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Puer City, Lincang City, and other areas. It has directly served and accompanied more than 400 families and over 600 children in difficulty, indirectly assisting and serving more than 5,000 children in remote ethnic minority areas.
As early as 2013, the Yunnan Heart to Heart Community Care Social Work Centre launched the "Accompany with Music" to address the issues of limited extracurricular activities, lack of daily care, and safety concerns among migrant children in urban villages. Using music as a medium and form of companionship, the program established music interest classes in children's activity centers in urban villages, realizing that music could bring warmth and strength to children to a great extent. (Note: Yunnan Heart to Heart Community Care Social Work Centre is a sister institution of Yunnan Heart to Heart Community Foundation.)
Recalling an early music companionship group, a Yunnan Heart to Heart Community Care Social Work Centre staff member said, "At the beginning, the children were quite diffident, with minimal interaction and a strong sense of loneliness. However, after developing a peer support system through small groups, they could take care of each other."
With the positive feedback received from the Accompany with Music in serving migrant children, Yunnan Heart to Heart Community Foundation also integrated the power of music companionship into the psychological trauma healing work for children who witness domestic violence and children affected by earthquakes. In 2019, Yunnan Heart to Heart Community Foundation launched the Accompany with Music for left-behind and children in difficulty, expanding the program model to frontline service sites in different regions of Yunnan Province, including Lushui County in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Lanping County, Cangyuan County in Lincang City, Yiliang County, Ludian County in Zhaotong City, and Luchun County in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture.
A children in difficulty from Cangyuan County in Lincang City, due to difficult family conditions, faced significant life pressures and psychological burdens. The Accompany with Music led to the donation of many musical instruments to her school. Supported by the program, the school's music interest classes received strong support, and she became a member of the music interest group. After a period of learning musical instruments and experiencing the lively atmosphere of music, she became more outgoing. She actively helped her classmates learn musical instruments and built connections with her peers. Music not only enriched her school life but also provided her with emotional support and solace to some extent. In its unique way, the Accompany with Music accompanied her and her classmates' growth.
In 2023, the Accompany with Music will inspire left-behind and children in difficulty in the land of serving dance, connecting volunteers, social workers, and children at Songlin Primary School in Nanjian through the warmth of music. It will dispel the cold and loneliness in the mountainous area, illuminate the hearts of the children, and ensure that with music, childern shall not be afraid of dark.
