CARE FOR PEACE

OUR SONG

Jeff wrote the Care for Peace song for the children of rural Myanmar to sing at the Grand Opening of the first Care for Peace Rural Health Center in June, 2016. 

So that they can learn the song in advance of the opening, the children of Singers Marin created a training video that Burmese children in Oakland, California are already learning from them.

stevie greenwell

Marin School of the Arts

“A few months ago I was approached by Jeff Hardy, a local Novato resident who wrote a song called CARE FOR PEACE for Burmese children to sing at Groundbreakings and Grand Openings of village-based community health and education centers in rural Myanmar (formerly known as “Burma”).”

 SATURDAY, MAY 7TH, 2016

THE SINGERS MARIN IN CONCERT

Under the tutelage of Jan Pedersen Schiff, Founder and Choral Director of Singers Marin, At the Mt. Tamalpais Church in Mill Valley, her students sung the Care for Peace Song to parents and friends.

Monday, April 25th, 2016

First Trial Run

Jan Pedersen Schiff had the children convened at a local venue to record the song wearing their Care for Peace t-shirts before performing it in public.

Grand Ceremonies

Pantawpyin Village Children

“It was one of those magical days in the rural village of Pantawpyin, Myanmar.  We celebrated the opening of our first rural health center with many people from the village and surrounding villages present.  The children had not heard the song before, so we showed them the Singers Maring children singing the song, and then I led them through the song line by line, verse by verse.  It was too much fun, especially when the parents and villagers started singing the song too!

Before we left the village I gave the teacher several copies of the song so that the next time we visit they will be better prepared to sing the song to other children wherever the song decides to go!” – JEFF HARDY

BACK IN THE USA

BURMESE CHILDREN 

The children of rural Myanmar who are learning how to sing at the Grand Opening of the first Care for Peace Rural Health Center in June will enjoy learning the song in advance of the opening from children just like them… This video they sang with a video of the Singers Marin singing the song!
On Mothers Day, Ko Hla Kyi invited some Burmese refugees living in Oakland, California to learn how to sing the song. At first they learned how to say the words in the song, and then they learned how to read the que-cards Jeff brought to the event. After a few tries the Burmese children were singing the song, knowing that they were singing to children on the other side of the world. They can’t wait to see the video of their friends singing the song in their home country sing the song to them!

The Care for Peace Song

jeff hardy:

“I wrote the Care for Peace song for the children of the world to sing and remind us of our responsibility to care…for peace.  I wanted to complete the song so that the children in rural Myanmar could sing at the Grand Opening of the first Care for Peace Rural Health Center in June, 2016.” 

the care for peace

SONG HISTORY

Stage #1:  The idea of writing the Care for Peace song came to Jeff around 11:00 p.m. on the night of November 29, 2013 when Ko Hla Khy and Jeff had been driving all day on dirt roads to reach an airport by the next morning.  They happened upon an outdoor concert called “Zat Pwe“(google it!) where an electric generator had been set up to light up the make-shift bambood stage where musicians, dancers and actors had already begun to perform a dusk-to-dawn ritual attended by everyone in the village. 
Tired and ready for a break, Ko Hla Kyi, the driver and Jeff got out and enjoyed the evening.  Jeff heard one traditional Burmese song that got stuck in his head.  A tune emerged which eventually became the “Tell me what I need to know“ chorus.  It was only after the groundbreaking ceremony for the first Care for Peace Rural Health Center that was held on November 19, 2014that Jeff decided to ensure the children with whom he danced without music on that day would have a song to sing at the Grand Opening in June of 2016.   
Stage #2:  Jeff wrote several iterations of the song and finally finished writing and recording the “scratch rendition“ in his garage recording “studio“ by November 2015. 
Stage #3: Jeff drove to Olompali State Historic Park near his home in Novato, found a granite rock outcropping under some live oak trees, set up his videocam, unpacked his baritone ukulele and recorded a demo that would be used to share both music and lyrics with the real choral experts: Jan Pedersen Schiff, Founder and Master Teacher of Singers Marin; and with Stevie Greenwell, Director of the MSA Vocal Music program. 
Stage #4:  In November, 2015 Jeff started sending email queries to as many schools, choirs and music organizations to find someone who might have some children available to sing the song.  With thanks to Jaimie Baxter, Business Development Officer at the Center for Volunteer and Non-Profit Leadership in San Rafael, Jeff was finally received a positive response from Jan Pedersen Schiff at Singers Marin in Mill Valley.  With thanks to Linda Lewis-Filippis Jeff also received a call from Stevie Greenwell at the Marin School of the Arts saying that she was interested in creating an a-Capella version of the song. The Song is afoot! 
Stage 5: On April 25, 2016 Jeff trudged his videocam, laptop, microphones and recording stuff to the Mt. Tamalpais Methodist Church in Mill Valley where Jan Schiff and her talented children and young adults performed and re-perfomed the song until everyone was exhausted.  (Click on THE SONG to watch the videos!)
Stage 6: On May 15th the first formal public presentation of the song was performed by the Advanced Treble Choir of the Marin School of the Arts.  The girls subsequently created a professional tape at a recording studio