Between September and November, PULSE and Field Band Foundation had the pleasure of hosting three interns doing a master’s degree in global development from the University of Bergen. They all had different backgrounds coming from three completely different countries: Peru, Turkey and Bangladesh. This blog post is written by Ceren Ok from Turkey and is about her experiences working with Field Band Foundation, it’s events and training activities.

What is the Field Band Foundation all about?

I don’t think it is possible to answer this question with one simple sentence. Even for me as an intern in the organization, it took some time to realize what the Field Band Foundation actually is.

My name is Ceren Ok. I am an international student from Turkey at the University of Bergen in the Global Development master’s program. During all of my life, I have always been a part of either a choir or a band. They are the reasons for some of my best memories. During high school I was the vocalist in a music band, and I had made wonderful friendships thanks to this experience. Now, after 10 years, I am further away from my band friends than ever, but they are still my closest friends. I think friendship is the first thing that you get when you become part of a band.

Field Band Foundation is a safe environment for creating bonds and friendships that will last a lifetime. Being part of the band provides quality time with members, peers, and friends. This also helps them have a network in the future.

Since I came to Johannesburg, I had a chance to be a part of some of Field Band’s events. I started my internship with Heritage Day. It was an amazing experience to see the diversity and richness of South Africa. The Heritage Day included dance and music, and started with a parade with the Field Band national band through the streets of Sharpville. Also, a lot of different parent groups from different cultures cooked traditional food and shared their traditions with all of us.

In the weeks following Heritage Day we had the opportunity to do various band visits, providing me with the opportunity to see how the members were preparing their shows for “Nationals”. This year was the return of the National Championship after three years, and the Field Band Foundation hosts this competition among its bands and invites them to Johannesburg from all around South Africa. It was incredible to see the excitement of the members. During their performances, I spoke with some band members, asking them about FBF and how they were feeling about being part of the band.

“I think, I like about Field Band is that you get to learn different
songs from each place you go, you get…. and you
learn different instruments, that’s the thing I like about.”

Another member commented:

“Even third place trophy for Sport Squat makes me
happy. Because we tried our best, we try to make the kids
understanding the dances and everything. I am very proud of us.”

The Field Band Foundation has members between 7 to 21 years old. As the member stated, not tutors teach the members how to play music, the members also teach each other. This provides all levels of the band leadership training.

Members also had a great connection with their tutors, who serve as role models for the members. For this reason, it is important to develop tutors not only musically but also personally. FBF provides workshops for tutors, focusing on arranging music, improvisation, teaching skills, life skills, and work readiness. We joined the tutor workshop in the second week, right after the tutors’ Association Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) exam. All tutors achieved great success on the exam. As interns, we also had our own session in the Tutor Workshop focusing on time management and teaching skills. It was interesting to see how they reflected their ideas and culture with the new information learned from previous sessions. With the knowledge gained from the workshop, tutors can make a stronger application to the PULSE program in Norway, advance their careers, and contribute to better band dynamics and professionalism.

Now, at the end of my internship I wish to take the Field Band Foundation to Norway with me. It helped me to see how a non-governmental organization works. It was one of the best experiences in my life and the safest environment that I have been in (in contrast to Johannesburg’s safety issues), I am thankful to have had this opportunity.

Written by Ceren Ok.
Pictures by the author.