In February 2023, I packed my suitcases yet again for another adventure abroad. This time with the PULSE project in South Africa. I had been there on a student internship and when asked if I wanted to apply and come back for a longer period, I did not need a lot of time to make up my mind. A few months later I was back in Johannesburg excited about the chance to make my contribution to the amazing work run by Field Band Foundation. I have a background in pedagogy and global development, and music has been an important part of my life but never on a professional level. My music career probably peeked as I performed “Fjelltrall” on the recorder for the whole school in 5^th grade. 

South Africa

The PULSE program has since the beginning in 2001 been an exchange of music teachers between Norway and South Africa. Throughout the years, the focus of Field Band Foundation in South Africa and the PULSE program has started including health and development aspects made possible through music. This is where I come in. The goal of Fieldband Foundation is through musicking to see empowered, resilient and self-confident young people contributing to increased inclusion in their societies. Most of the bands are located in social risk areas with higher levels of poverty, crime, violence and such. I do have a background in marching bands (skolekorps) from before the social media era but having a team including professional musicians on board I could focus on the health and growth-aspects of the job such as wellbeing, lifeskills, teambuilding, social inclusion and more. One of my favorite events of the year were the workshops held with tutors and TiTs to support their skill and knowledge base. Fieldband has an amazing group of young people working as tutors and positive role models for growth in their members. They are key in achieving the goals we all work towards as these are the ones bringing strategies into action on a day-to-day basis.  I absolutely loved my job – even when there were to many emails to respond to.

“Learning to understand and live in a different culture is beautiful and valuable, and truly opens up perspectives of what humans and societies could be.”

Being a PULSE participant in South Africa is working, living and exploring with a small group of other Norwegian participants. Getting to know a new culture can be both exciting and frustrating and it is good to be able to process this experience with someone going through the same. As a team we also work on a variety of very different tasks, so it is good to have a team with a diverse background and experience. While most of the time is spent in Johannesburg at the head office, also providing the opportunity to explore this vibrant city, our work did also bring us all over the country for band visits and workshops. We have had the privilege to visit township and areas foreigners and white people in general don’t really go to, finding beauty and pain all over the place. Exploring the area on our own is also strongly encouraged which led to encountering black mambas in Eswatini, riding horses in Lesotho, scuba diving in Mozambique, watching hippos for Christmas in Namibia, almost getting lost in Zambia, finding local beer in Botswana, refusing stupid tourist prices in Zimbabwe, joining a reading club in a Township in Durban, and making new friends in Cape Town and Free state.

Learning to understand and live in a different culture is beautiful and valuable, and truly opens up perspectives of what humans and societies could be. It is also a privilege to be part of an organization invested in the wellbeing of youth and societies through the power of music. It has been an amazing year, both challenging and exciting and will be one of my highlights for years to come.

Afterwork period in Norway:

The time in PULSE ends with two months of afterwork with the home organization. For the north participants such as me, this means in the Norwegian Band Federation (Norges Musikkorps Forbund). This period starts with a NOREC homecoming course. Everyone going on exchange through NOREC starts and ends the period with a one-week training somewhere in the world to better prepare the participant for the challenges faced in both going out and coming back.

During my last weeks in Norges Musikkorps Forbund I were working on many very interesting tasks benefiting the organization where I could use my education and field of interest. I have among other been working with the theoretical framework, the Theory of change and positive youth development, and promotion of Ungdomsløftet (Youth lift). I’ve also been working with the South African PULSE team in Norway who almost feel like family now. This is all in an environment of amazing and enthusiastic colleagues who love their job. The afterwork-period in Norges Musikkorps Forbund has been the perfect ending of an amazing experience as a PULSE participant where I now have an extended group of family in both Norway and South Africa.

Written by Ann Elise Reigem
Pictures from the author