Travel

Tavel to Ghana Jan. 2008 | Travel Tips

Joy of Voice and Jane Lowey invite you to travel internationally with a group of women! Just as we create communities of singers when we gather for chorus and "SingShops", we travel abroad to enlarge these communities and build cultural bridges.

I began leading groups of women in travel in 1999, after attending the  World Sacred Music Festival in Fes, Morocco.   The culture of Morocco is intensely beautiful and is also quite traditional, in that men and women operate in very different spheres.Though I had fallen in love with the music, art, architecture, history and passion that was  offered at the Festival,  I was acutely aware that all my guides were male.    I became curious about the lives of the women.   Thus began my quest to learn of the women's lives directly, and to bring other American women with me to share in the journey.

In June of 1999, I gathered 11 women to return to Morocco for the Music Festival, and stayed in a traditional Moroccan home, where we interacted with  the local women.   The meeting was a huge success I trust that women everywhere have more in common than not, and that if given the chance, we will bond like family in a very short time.   We recognize ourselves as sisters, mothers, wives and daughters, and culture needn't separate us.   Barriers of religion, race, geography, class, soften and finally dissolve when we eat, dance, sing and play together.

I have led 3 more groups to Morocco, and was also invited to bring a group of women to South Africa. Twenty eight women traveled with me, and we were hosted by 18 South African women.   We stayed in their homes for a week, and then traveled about the country together.    Two years later, the American group  hosted 12 of the South African women here in the U.S..    The relationships established are still growing.

Music often plays a role in the exchange of cultures when we travel.   Since each country is very different in nature, each trip is necessarily different.   We hope to learn songs from our hosts, and we like to bring songs to share, but we are not limited to this medium.   What we ultimately find is that women share a common language of life experience.  We travel with the intention of making connection, opening our hearts and lives, and building relationship.

Each year, I take a group of 8 - 15 women for this peacemaking journey. In January 2008, we will travel to Ghana for 10 days.   The emphasis on this trip will be women's music, dance, and drumming, as well as an exploration of the beautiful variety of textiles of this region.

For further information email yojane@joyofvoice.com