Arts and Peace Camp
World Children’s Choir
July 18-28, 2005
Timisoara, Romania
Sponsored by Friendship Ambassadors Foundation 

A report by James Selway, Associate Director, WCC

En route to Timisoara I admired the neatness of the Bavarian farms and fields and was thrilled by the beauty of the Bavarian Alps as we flew over Salzburg and Graz. Once past the mountains the pretty green web of small villages and farms gave way to plains. Here in Hungary and in western Romania fields stretched for much larger distances between villages laid out in mostly a rectangular fashion, perhaps because of the collectives in the Communist era. 

It was hot and dusty in Timisoara when we arrived. After the splendid and airy efficiency of the Munich airport, our first impression of Timisoara was of the cramped and rather drab airport. Passport control was perfunctory and quick. As we were tired upon arrival, the news that we didn’t have the keyboard and art supplies wasn’t cheering. 

However at customs we were immediately buoyed up by the appearance of our primary guide and contact while in Timisoara, Doina Anghel, who works for the House of Culture in Timisoara. Doina talked with officials and quickly set things in motion to retrieve our lost luggage assuring us that everything would arrive on another plane, if not that evening, certainly by the next day. Doina also managed our way through customs with great charm.

Exiting customs we met Szilvia Agoston, our European representative from FAF, for the first time. Szilvia impressed us immediately with her quiet elegance and confident efficiency. Szilvia had already been on site in Timisoara for a number of days making sure that all accommodations were set and satisfactory. 

My first impression of the dusty drive from the airport along a rode lined with poplars and then into the crowded city was of a country in disrepair. This impression was replaced rather quickly by the realization that despite the seeming disrepair, certainly by affluent Northeast US standards, the city was bursting with renewal and renovation. Road construction seemed at first haphazard and lacking in public safety measures, however it was soon clear that the people of Timisoara are industrious and hard working. 

There are many beautiful buildings in Timisoara. And there are roses everywhere: in the median strips of the roads, in public gardens, in courtyards of houses behind walls. Many apartment balconies have flower boxes. The roses are well cared for as the rose beds are obviously tended frequently. When we arrived at the vocational school where we were to hold rehearsals and classes, the concierge and others were in fact carefully raking the grounds and weeding the rose and flower beds.

We found Camping International where we stayed for the ten days in Romania to be quite comfortable and charming. We discovered two lovely fountains in the garden adjacent to the patio restaurant where we took most of our meals and a flag surmounted mound in the center of the main area planted with lovely red roses. The cottages were small but clean and nicely appointed. We were all puzzled at first by the large folded cloth with a curious hole in the center which we were soon told was a duvet cover for the blanket.

The proprietor and his wife were very friendly and very attentive to our needs. The food was ample and good. 

After settling in, Doina, our guide, arrived with a bus to take us to the House of Culture for an incredible folk dance performance by a handsome young troupe of Romanian boys and girls. We were very impressed with their poise and skill, and not only the dancers but the facile triple-tonguing saxophone and clarinet players as well. It was a fast-paced, intense performance that was an absolute delight. After the performance, we were guests at a welcome dinner where we met Lavinia Petrun, who was do be our second guide and primary interpreter. Lavinia spoke English extremely well; English is only one of many languages she speaks quite fluently. Lavinia was working for the House of Culture as an independent contractor; she also is hired by corporations to teach employees English.

We were delighted to have time later that evening to meet with Szilvia again and to go over plans for the coming days. Szilvia had also arranged for Benny Morgan, the son of FAF founder Reverend Harry Morgan, who lives in Timisoara, to meet with us at Camping. Benny is relaxed and outgoing. He and Szilvia made us feel incredibly welcomed and reassured by their extraordinary preparations in every domain concerning our stay in Romania.

Tuesday, July 19th

The next morning we arrived at the Georgiu Atanasiu vocational school for our first day of classes and rehearsals. We were delighted to find that many of our young Romanian singers joining the camp were also dancers and musicians from the troupe that had entertained us the evening before: Remus, Andrei, Sorin, Christian, Maurius, Ovidiu, Ionut, Daniella, Anca, Roxanna, Dolores, and Demeris. We also met Jonathan and Carmen, brother and sister, and Daiyana. 

The first rehearsal went quite well although the Romanians were a bit shy and hesitant at first about the singing.

Kofi led us in “Siyahamba”, not only introducing the drumming that was to become such a hit at the camp, but also showing the Choir singers and the Romanians a new and much more powerful way to move as we sang. We also sang through “Let Us Be United” which would be a final number on the last concert. And we began our choreography work with “Feel Good.” 

By noon our keyboard and amp had arrived in Timisoara, and Doina and a driver from the House of Culture returned triumphantly from the airport with all of the missing equipment and luggage. I was quite relieved to have it, although thanks to the generosity of Peter from the House of Culture, I had a keyboard on loan to use in the morning rehearsal.

In the afternoon, Sandy introduced the collage making process and the Choir singers and Romanians seemed quite happy to work on the distinctions of “dark songs” and “light songs” – complaints and possibilities that could inspire a creative outlet through collage.

Lunch was at 1 in the school cafeteria. Even though the school was not in session, the cafeteria staff had been engaged to prepare lunch and dinner for us each weekday. The cafeteria was quite pleasant and colorful with the same multi-colored “stained glass” effect that also highlighted the school. 

By 4 o’clock we were ready for some time to sightsee and to sit in one of the many cafes found everywhere in public squares in Timisoara. After a short walk over a bridge and roadway under repair, we visited the Orthodox cathedral. I was quite moved by the sight of a young woman crossing the marble floor on her knees as she slowly and most likely painfully inched her way towards a shrine in the center of the vast Cathedral. There are no chairs in the Orthodox cathedral, only a few seats built in to the sides of the main area.

Sandy and I needed a place to simply rest and found a café where we could sit and wait for the others as they walked the length of the first square and into adjoining squares, including Union Square where we would later do our jazz festival performances.

I was surprised at the café to find that tipping is evidently not a common occurrence in Romania. I asked Doina and Lavinia about tipping, but they were a bit non-committal. Sandy was quite concerned that we should leave something. When I gave the waitress two US dollars, saying that in our country it is customary to tip, the waitress was quite surprised. She laughed nervously and said something excitedly to her colleagues. I almost felt I might have run the risk of creating an international incident!

After a full day, we were happy to be back at Camping and to try to get a bit more regular sleep.

Wednesday, July 20th

On Wednesday, following a joint rehearsal, I was happy to have some time with the boys alone to work on parts, again made possible with the loan of Peter’s keyboard. Drumming was again a big hit with all of the singers and the Romanians joining in spirited drumming, singing, and dancing. The Romanians, especially the boys, were very taken with Kofi.

In the afternoon, Sandy conducted the second and final day of collage workshop. Today’s class was a bit more of challenge as the Romanian boys began to act out a bit. Sandy turned down one collage that the boys did together which depicted a world of lots of “sexy” young girls. Sandy insisted they do another. At the presentation of all the collages at the end of class, the boys couldn’t resist from announcing that their original collage had been banned. 

Our sightseeing portion of the day included a very interesting visit to the Banat Museum where our very gracious guide and host, one of the main curators at the museum, gave us a concise but thorough background into the history of Romania and Banat province, from Roman times through the Austro Hungarian Empire into the present day.

We were scheduled to visit the Timisoara Opera House that afternoon as well, but we decided to save that trip for the following afternoon. We were happy to spend more café time at the lovely outdoor sites along Victory Square. 

Thursday, July 21st

During Thursday’s morning rehearsal time, in order to make sure the Choir singers were prepared for their weekend festival appearances, the Choir worked separately on its own repertoire as the Romanian students engaged in more drumming, dancing, and singing with Kofi. The sound of the small, 10 member WCC Chamber Choir, was getting stronger each day. We were concerned, however, with Amy Herman’s sore throat and bad cold. We decided to send her to a doctor with Doina just to make sure that she didn’t have a strep infection. The doctor examined her and prescribed an antibiotic but did not do a strep test as he felt that there was insufficient time for test results.

Thursday’s afternoon sessions introduced the first of our Romanian folk dance sessions with Nicolae, the charming and distinguished chief choreographer of the dance troupes associated with the House of Culture. Our first session was held in the cafeteria at the school. We learned all the four different sections of the line dance that we would perform on the gala concert the following week to end the camp. It was wonderful to see all ages represented in the dance: Wanda and Fred, dancing together as the senior participants, and all of the camp singers, including Jonathan and Carmen who were not members of the dance troupe.

After rehearsal and classes on Thursday, we took the bus to the Opera House and had a long tour of the stage area where the guide raised the fire curtain so we could see the handsome horseshoe shape of the auditorium. We walked through the spacious lobby and staircase area and went outside to the balcony facing on to Victory Square and the Orthodox cathedral at the other end. On the balcony we spotted Craig Dykstra, who had missed connections with us to make the first part of the tour. But it gave Craig a terrific opportunity to get a shot of the group on the balcony. Craig was delighted when the group began to sing parts of “O pastorelle addio” on the balcony directly over the large Opera House banner. We were very moved and interested to hear from Doina about the importance of the Opera House during the Romanian revolution of 1989 as groups met at the Opera House away from the surveillance of the secret police.

We were also able to work in some shopping on Thursday, taking our bus a short distance to a multi-level mall on another side of Timisoara. I bought CDs of Romanian folk dance music with clarinet and saxophone, similar to the music we had heard the boys playing at the House of Culture. I also found a CD of tsimbalom music, an instrument I have always admired.

Friday, July 22nd

Friday’s work included a tremendously energetic drumming session with Kofi. By now we must have been well known on the Strasse Gh. Doja, as the sound of drumming and singing came every day through the high open windows of the classrooms, the white sheer curtains billowing in the breeze through the open window.

By Friday the offer of swimming at a private swim club was welcome news to the group. We spent a very relaxing three hours in “Heaven,” an appropriate name for the clean, well appointed pool area which featured two pools, a deeper one up the hill and a more shallow one used mostly by families with small children. 

Walking back along the dusty road lined by poplars, I had a feeling of great well-being – that everything was just as it should be at that moment, sharing a summer’s day with our new friends.

Saturday, July 23rd

This trip to Romania with the World Children's Choir under the sponsorship of Friendship Ambassadors Foundation is another testament to the heart-opening experiences that become possible when traveling and living among the people of a country. As Craig Dykstra, group photographer and parent of singer Amy Dykstra, commented, “the magical moments happen when we least expect them”. Today was a powerful example.

We boarded the buses in the morning to travel about 22 km out of Timisoara to visit and perform for the children of an orphanage in Recas. When we arrived, after a trip through countryside of sunflowers, corn, and vineyards, we discovered that the children were away at a summer camp. The young man who greeted us at the gate apologized, saying that there had been a misunderstanding; however, if we would wait briefly another group would come soon to hear our performance. “Just ten minutes, please,” he said. While we waited I discovered that a bolt had dislodged from the underside of the traveling piano stool I use with the keyboard. I asked the young man if he by any chance had the necessary tool, an Allen wrench, to tighten the bolt. He said, “This is your lucky day. I just happen to have one in my pocket.” We laughed as he reinserted the bolt, tightened, and then posed for a picture as Craig came over to catch the moment on film. 

Our greeter explained that unfortunately we couldn’t perform in the larger room used for performances and events as the director had the only key and that he was away at camp with the children. After waiting a bit longer we entered a wing of the handsome Roman style tiled building. The school wing opened on to a spacious court with flowers and a small garden pool being constructed with pool liner, rocks, and plantings. At first we entered a rather small room, perhaps a lounge area. Kofi called me over to indicate a wider area where corridors met, a larger space with some benches and a better place for the singers to stand. We quickly set up the keyboard but not before an eager group of about 20 adolescents, mostly boys, with about 6-7 girls, came tumbling through the door. The director quickly pulled them back when he realized that we weren’t quite ready. Once our equipment was in place, the group entered shyly and quietly and sat in the small space on the benches and on the floor. The Choir group sang its program for the jazz festival performance to be held later that evening. The audience was absolutely still and very receptive through the 25-minute program. When we finished, our director, Sondra Harnes, asked if each of the young people could say their name and tell us a little bit about themselves. With some bashfulness and amidst some gentle teasing from friends around them, first the boys began to speak, telling us of their training in agriculture, woodworking, plumbing, and carpentry. Then the girls related their training as beauticians, pastry chefs, and tailors. I couldn’t help but think how fortunate we were to be able to look at each of these young people and to be able to see them as unique individuals, each one working hard to find a place in the world. We learned later that the parents of these young people had abandoned them as children and that this orphanage and its training center provided a significant chance for their success in life.

Everyone in our group also introduced themselves. When Sondra told them that we are married, one of the boys asked if we had any children. They were quite interested when we told them that our son, John Selway, is a techno DJ who travels internationally performing at raves and clubs. They all love techno, and wanted to know John’s professional name which is “DJ Selway.” 

Sondra asked if anyone had any questions. A young man in the front row spoke very sincerely saying, “Thank you for coming to visit us and for singing your beautiful songs.” “We will never forget you,” he added. With tears forming in my own eyes, I saw that Doina, who had told us of the background of these young people, was also crying. 

Then one of the girls, Arabella, asked, “May we sing a song for you?” The girls stood up and sang a song that we realized was “Siyahamba”, sung in Romanian. I found the key in which they were singing on the keyboard, Kofi picked up his drum, and we all sang together. Arabella asked if she could play Kofi’s drum. Joined by one of the boys, she drummed and they both sang a song in a folk style that we learned was a religious song. She told Kofi that she had never played a real drum before, but had drummed only on cardboard. Kofi gave her one of his Djembe drums.

Everyone was eager to have photos taken, and Craig was rushing from one group to another, taking video and stills. Halappa Hakkal’s digital pictures gave everyone an immediate view of the groups. One boy was delighted to be able to display his card tricks and also his break dancing. He was eager to teach us some moves, and I glanced around at one point to see Craig dancing very convincingly under the boy’s tutelage. Another tall young man, a graduate who had returned to the training camp for the summer, asked to have his picture taken with Lilia Rojas, parent of Mia Rojas and our tour manager. The young man who first thanked us for visiting them insisted on carrying all of the equipment back to the bus. 

Only a sudden burst of rain could finally break up the excitement of picture taking and laughter, and we boarded our bus for the return trip to Timisoara for our festival concert that evening.

Evening Concert, July 23rd 

After a return Camping we rested and changed for our first formal dress concert at the blues and jazz festival that evening at Union Square in the old part of Timisoara. Our bus dropped us off at the end of a narrow cobblestone street unable to negotiate the tight confines of the Old World streets. We emerged from the alley passageway to find a glorious and colorful square surrounded by Baroque style buildings painted in shades of mustard, violet, pink and coral. Many of the buildings are under renovation, including the impressive façade of the Ministry of Culture, a clear indication of an earnest drive to reconstruct the beauties of the old city. All over the city new building are going up and old buildings are being rebuilt. 

It was a pleasure to perform amidst these beautiful buildings and domed churches. The square was filled with umbrella-shaded cafes. A spattering of rain gave way to a glowing sunset as the program began. A good-sized crowd had gathered by the time of our 7:30 pm performance. In fact during the warm-ups and sound check a group of very young children seated in the front row were very seriously singing Sandy’s unique vocal exercises, particularly intrigued by the “coo” exercise. They were imitating her hand gestures with their own diving hands and rippling their fingers singing “oo” as Sandy encouraged the even spin and vibrato of the performers. Craig said during “Feel Good”, our gospel song done with choreography, some of the children were up doing the movements with us. Afterwards several of the children came behind the platform to see us and were happy to receive the small Romanian-American flag pins we gave them. 

The show was a great success. Our sponsors from the House of Culture were very pleased. And we enjoyed it tremendously. It was good to be back on stage. Our singers had been working very hard in rehearsal in Virginia before leaving and during the day at the camp to be prepared for the public performances. We asked that the words of “Let Us Be United: A Prayer for the World Community”, our final song, be read to the audience having been translated into Romanian. The song, written by Anne Hampton Callaway, is based on a text from the Rig Veda. The words were poignantly appropriate in a city where the people came together in unity in 1989 to begin the swift chain of events that led to the fall of the Communist regime. 

“Let us be united, let us speak in harmony, let our minds apprehend alike,
Common be our prayer, common be our resolution, alike be our feelings,
Unified be our hearts, and perfect be our unity.”

Following the show we changed back at Camping and then went to the Hotel Continental for a dinner to celebrate the 16th birthday of Mia Rojas. Later in the evening Pavel, the director of the House of Culture, and Toma, head of the dance company, came to bring flowers to Mia in honor of her birthday. They stayed with us to toast our successful concert and we were able to express our gratitude to them for a wonderful experience in Timisoara. Pavel graciously replied that he hoped this would be the first of many exchanges with the Choir.

Sunday, July 24th

Allowing a more leisurely morning we left Camping at 11 am for a short walk up a country road to Banat Village Museum. Along the road we saw loosestrife and blue button daisies, both very familiar flowers. In fact many of the flowers we saw in the yards of the village buildings were familiar: rhododendrons, phlox, asters and daylilies. Families were setting up picnic sites along the road in the shade of the public forest, preparing for the long lovely Sunday with a cooking fire. 

On the museum grounds, a church service was just finishing in the old village church. The church had been built in 1746 and had been dismantled and brought to the Banat Village Museum for reconstruction. We went inside the tiny black log church to find a surprisingly spacious and ornately gilded interior. A church member offered us consecrated bread from a basket. The priest entered from a screened in area behind the altar to deliver a blessing to a woman and baby.

As the church service ended, the other buildings were opened and a guide gave us detailed background on the village. The logs were dismantled from regional villages, brought to Timisoara and reassembled following traditional use of mud and water. The floors are stamped earth set upon a base of rocks. The walls are also mud but painted with a whitewash. The doors are short indicating a population that was once much shorter than we. The guide told us we would find taller doors as we moved up in history. 

We saw houses once inhabited by village potters, a school, and a city hall with a magnificent collection of icons. From a canteen located in one of the restored buildings I heard a delightful Romanian song from a female singer. Doina inquired, found the name of the artist and said she would try to find the particular CD. 

That evening was our second festival performance, again in the elegant expanse of Union Square. 

Feeling very much at home, we found another delightful café with tables and umbrellas where we waited for our appearance. The square was full of such places. In fact the crowd was comprised as much of café and bar patrons as it was audience in the benches set before the stage. The crowd on the second night was bigger than the night before and even more responsive.

As we did the warm-ups on stage I was happy again just to look around the square admiring again the Baroque architecture. Pavel, the director of the House of Culture, told us that my comparison of the buildings to those in the time of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven was not surprising as the buildings were all of Austrian influence. Timisoara and neighboring Transylvania were once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

Many of the same group of children came again and after the show boldly came over to where we were sitting at the café. The girls in the Choir were delighted to take them on their laps, laughing and playing with them. The father came over several times with a concerned expression. The girls and chaperones assured him that the children were fine and no bother. Lots of photos were taken and the father on request came back with his address neatly printed out. We promised to send him photos of the group. I also gave him a “We Must Dream” CD. When we finally walked back to our bus the children followed us with their grandmother. The grandmother, quite taken with the singers, was blowing kisses as we boarded the bus. 

Monday, July 25th

Monday morning brought a day off from rehearsal and a chance to travel again in the countryside as we took our bus to Hunedoara and a visit to Huniazi Castle and to Lake Cinsci. The Romanian students joined us on the bus. The trip was slated to take up to 4 hours but it didn’t seem that long. We were captivated by the beautiful green countryside, the villages through which we passed, and for me, the sight of ever-larger mountains. In Hunedoara standing on the ramparts of the castle we could a high chain of mountains in the distance and later from our vantage point on the lovely terrace of the Hotel Cinsci we saw snow covered mountains.

Before returning to Timisoara we traveled a short distance around the mountain lake to a spot where large bicycle operated paddleboats could be rented. All of the singers, WCC and Romanians, went out on the lake. The WCC singers were given strict instructions not to get their heads under the water. The Romanian boys were jumping in the water and were scolded by Doina for not following her instructions! And sure enough the next day several of them didn’t come to rehearsal as they were home with colds and sore throats. Fortunately none of our singers caught any more colds, although Amy Herman did have a bad sore throat and laryngitis during the stay. She recovered enough to sing on the final concert, but sadly with not enough of her powerful voice to sing the solo part of Pamina in an excerpt from “The Magic Flute.”

The trip back to Timisoara after that day at the castle and the lake seemed much longer, for now it seemed we encountered many stops for road construction. Road repairs seem to pop up suddenly in Romania. At one point our otherwise very cautious driver, impatiently pulled ahead of the queue to try to get around a repair barricade. Our bus came directly in the path of a line of trailer trucks, looking just as big as anything on US highways. A construction worker yelled at our driver angrily and somehow the driver was able to pull the bus a bit to the side on the very narrow road to let the trucks and oncoming traffic pass.

Roads in Romania are narrow and two lanes on our journey. Nevertheless the traffic moves fast and passing is frequent. Many times the bus passed a vehicle on the right while an oncoming vehicle passed exactly at the same moment on the left. Three vehicles were on the road at the same point!

The night before our bus trip to the mountains and lake, I had received an idea that I wanted to write a special farewell song to be sung for our hosts at the final gathering on Wednesday night. I was haunted by a recurring phrase late in the night that used the lovely Romanian phrase of farewell, “La revedere.” I worked with the words and the song on the bus during the trip out from the city. I asked Doina and Lavinia for help in translating into Romanian the phrases, “You are always in our hearts,” and “We will never forget you.” By the end of the bus trip I had finished the melody and words of the song, including an English language bridge referring to some of the unusual and wonderful things we had experienced during our stay. I stayed up late that night working out the harmonies. 

Tuesday, July 26th

Tuesday morning found us back at work at the Atanasiu School preparing for the final concert. Everyone was tired but worked hard as we knew we had a big concert ahead. 

I still needed to write out the song for our singers and Sandy so that we could start learning it in time for Wednesday night. I had neglected to bring music manuscript paper, but Lavinia came to the rescue bringing back a small notebook of manuscript paper that she had purchased in the town. I was able to get the melody and words written out in time for Pavel to arrange for photocopies to be made in time for our afternoon rehearsal.

Tuesday afternoon, following rehearsal, was another extraordinary event when we performed a concert for a retirement home in Timisoara. We arrived to find a clean, orderly building with lovely flowers and plantings in the courtyard. A group of some 35 seniors were already awaiting us in the breezy meeting room. They loved our performance and loved the children! There was lots of smiling and laughter and picture taking after! We were impressed with the strength and energy of the residents. They really didn’t want to see us leave, and many came down to the street to see us off.

Tuesday night we cancelled the dinner scheduled for us at the school and gave everyone the opportunity to shop and to have dinner together in groups. This gave many of us a chance to find Romanian artifacts and clothing to take back as gifts. Doina led us to a wonderful store in a multi-storied mall in Timisoara that had just what we were looking for – a gypsy-made skirt, apron, and head scarf for Jane Conover, a loyal and dedicated WCC volunteer and former Choir grandparent and our house and pet sitter at home.

Wednesday, July 27th

On Wednesday morning we were back where we began our visit, at the House of Culture, for a run-through of our Choir numbers and a rehearsal of the folk dance led by Nicolae, which involved students and some of the adults. We also had our first chance to rehearse the Carmen excerpt in costume. The long skirts, peasant blouses, shawls, and dangling earrings and bracelets looked fantastic on the girls. 

After lunch we began to pack up at the school ready for our departure the next morning, and then returned to Camping for rest and to dress for the concert.

The concert that night began with the WCC singers doing their classical pieces, including “I Will Be Earth,” “ O Pastorelle Addio,” and "Come To My Garden." That was followed by a rousing session of Kofi drumming with Remus and Andriu as they played saxophones in the rapid fire Romanian style. Then the WCC girls came onstage in their gypsy-like attire for a splendid performance of the Carmen trio with an incredibly powerful and mature solo from Mia Rojas as Carmen. The first half closed with all of the Romanians in their traditional dance costumes joining the WCC group. The girls, of course, were still dressed in their gypsy attire, which blended nicely with the Romanian costume. Kofi, Wanda, and Fred were stunning in their Romanian costumes loaned by the House of Culture. Doina and Nicolae led our dance with such easy elegance. This was a very special moment and a splendid gift from our Romanian hosts: the opportunity to share in their customs, dance and music with such joy and confidence. We had been well rehearsed by our energetic and always inspiring teacher and leader, Nicolae.

After an intermission Natasha Hakkal danced a classical Indian dance in traditional attire. Natasha’s performance was one of the best we had ever seen her give. She was radiant in scarlet, black, and gold attire dancing in the spotlight with impeccable balance and poise. The Romanian students, still wearing their traditional costumes, then performed West African dances, accompanied by Remus, Andriu, and Kofi. I was so moved watching their ease and delight in these dances and songs. It was especially wonderful to see Carmen and Jonathan, who had seemed shy the first day of camp, now right at the front of the group, dancing so confidently.

The WCC singers returned in their formal concert attire to perform selections from our lighter festival program, including “Comin’ Through the Rye,” “Come To My Garden,” and finally all of the student participants were on stage when the Romanian singers joined us for our final three numbers. The finale began with “Siyahamba,” with the West African dance step taught by Kofi, and our Broadway style choreographic offering, “Feel Good.” Our final number, “Let Us Be United,” with Amy Dykstra’s beautiful and heartfelt solo, was the perfect ending to our work together as singers and dancers and as new friends. The powerful words of the ancient Vedic text echoed the discoveries we had made in the past ten days as we became a unique community united through music, dance, and singing. 

At the end of the concert, the Reverend Harry Morgan, founder of Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, came forward to thank us eloquently and movingly of the impact that the concert upon him. He spoke of the young singers as “precious and beautiful flowers that he would want to pick and always keep.” He also told us how such a gathering of Romanian and international youth in Romania had always been his dream. As Sondra accepted his thanks, we were reminded of how this was also a long time dream of hers - now made a reality.

After the concert we were all invited back to the cafeteria and the technical school where we were guests at a wonderful banquet hosted by the House of Culture. Sandy and I were pleased sit across from Rev Morgan, his wife, and Benny. Mrs. Morgan had brought us two bottles of Romanian wine as a gift. There were a number of poignant moments at the banquet. First, Rev. Morgan, spoke movingly and powerfully of the early days of the Romanian revolution which began in 1989 in Timisoara. The initial demonstration, a chain of parishioners protecting a Lutheran minister from being taken by secret police, began just down the street from where we rehearsed. We passed there each time we walked from the vocational school to the House of Culture. We were silent and listening intently as Rev. Morgan told how citizens of Timisoara stepped from the crowd to take the place of those who were killed by the bullets of the police and army. Elderly women and men saying, “We are your grandmothers and your grandfathers,” finally caused the young soldiers to put down their guns. From Timisoara the news spread rapidly across Romania and within days the hated regime of Ceausescu fell. 

Amy Herman’s birthday was the day of our return flight to the US, but we were wonderfully surprised as the lights dimmed and a huge cake lit with fizzing sparklers was brought in to great applause. We all sang “Happy Birthday” and the Romanians sang another traditional birthday song accompanied by saxophones, clapping, and very high spirits. 

The time came for our new song to be sung for our hosts. I was very pleased how much the singers had taken to the song; there voices sounded especially free and beautiful in the large cafeteria hall. The response from everyone was thunderous; Sandy said later many had tears in their eyes. The song has since been recorded by performers at Singers Onstage, our performing arts camp held in Northern Virginia in August, and we plan to send a copy of the recording to the House of Culture. This was a very gratifying moment for me. I felt the song was truly a blessing.

Thursday, July 28th

Thursday morning found the adults up early packing and preparing for departure to the airport around 11 am. The singers were slow to mobilize that morning after excitements of the concert and the party of the previous evening. 

Many of the Romanian students came directly to the camping to see us off. I hated to be the one to break up the gathering, but I urged everyone to board the bus as we had an international flight and needed to be at the airport on time. Much to our amusement almost all of the Romanians, especially the boys, boarded the bus to go to the airport with us! And, of course, Donia and Lavinia, were still an ever-present source of assistance and friendship! 

At the airport just before going through security all of the group, adults and singers, gathered in a circle to bring this incredibly moving and powerful experience to a close. Sandy expressed her deep thanks to everyone for making this camp possible. She spoke emotionally of how a dream had been fulfilled: to bring a group of young people together to celebrate the powerful possibilities of peace and mutual friendship in an environment of exploration: singing and working together in a celebration of life.

I thought again of the song I had discovered in Romania using as its theme the lovely and generous expression, “La revedere.” My heart had been stolen by the warm, loving friendship of the Romanian people, a friendship and affection that truly would blossom and bloom like a rose, the “Rose of Banat.”

I know I am eager to participate in another arts and peace camp. I want to help Friendship Ambassadors Foundation and the World Children’s Choir expand the program to include even more young people from all over the world coming together to build a community of hope and sharing. I believe this project can bring young people and adults together to share and express their dreams for a better world. I know that the energy and commitment awakened in the hearts of our participants will return with them to their home countries, just as it has happened with me. Following my experiences in Romania , I am a stronger and more committed member of an ever-expanding world community. 

I think of the tremendous hospitality extended to us by the Romanians of Timisoara. I remember the delighted smiles of the residents of the senior residence and their strong embraces as they welcomed our singers. I see the shy but friendly grins of the teens from the dormitory in Recas who proudly told of their work and future plans and who sang and danced with us. I remember the stately elegance and the exuberance of the singers and dancers we met on our first visit to the House of Culture, all of whom became friends as we rehearsed and worked together at the camp. I will always treasure the genuine appreciation and respect which I felt extended towards us and towards our work, a friendship I saw reflected in the eyes and smiles of these handsome, caring people. 

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