Somewhere in Africa, there is a tribe that does not celebrate when a child is born. They do not celebrate first knowing that the woman is pregnant. They celebrate when the woman first conceives of the idea to have a child. When she feels that she is ready to have a child, she takes a journey to a large tree, outside the village. She spends days alone there, in the quiet, listening to “hear” the song of her child. When the song “comes to her,” she returns to the village. She then teaches her husband the
- song. They sing the song when they conceive the child. Other
members of the tribe learn the song. They sing it to the baby as the child is in its mother’s womb. They sing it when the baby is
- born. They sing it when the child is upset, hurt, and on special
- ccasions.