Ancient Ways brings joyful, danceable music of Zimbabwe to raise money for famine relief

On recent evening, in a mostly-empty building by the Albany Airport, a group of friends and musicians gathered from parts far and wide around the mid-Valley -. and put in their earplugs.

Soon the room was pulsing with the intricate polyrhythms of a choir of marimbas - deep tones from a towering bass set mixed with the bright tones of tenor and soprano wooden keys under the blur of players' mallets. An auxiliary percussion section of bongos and shakers kept time with the joyful beat as the group swayed seamlessly from one rhythm to another, stopping and starting again in unison on hidden cues.

The group, is part of Ancient Ways, a nonprofit started by

Lacomb resident Jaiaen Beck.

It all started in 1990, when Beck attended a lecture in Eugene by Abraham Dumisani "Dumi" Maraire, a pioneer in bringing Zimbabwean marimba music to North America.

"All the groups that you know of that have marimbas, started because of Dumi. He started this whole phenomenon," Beck said.

After the lecture, Beck was given the chance to play the marimbas for the first time and was hooked right away. She started taking lessons with a marimba group in Eugene.

Beck counts herself among the many who were profoundly touched by Maraire's teachings.

"Now, a lot of people took the idea and said, 'well, we're musicians, we can do whatever we want with it,'" Beck said.

But Beck was devoted to learning and playing traditional and contemporary arrangements by Zimbabwean composers.

After moving to her farm in

Lacomb, Beck realized if she didn't start teaching others in the area how to play marimbas, then she wasn't going to get to play.

So, she started teaching students at the Lacomb Grade School as a volunteer.

"By the end of the year we had a little group going and not long after that the parents wanted to play," Beck said.

Eventually Beck realized that what she was doing was more than just playing music. "I realized that this is about preserving these traditions," she said.

Beck decided to start up a Ancient Ways as a nonprofit to share Zimbabwean music and culture in 1994.

By 1999, after more than five years of teaching marimbas and sharing the culture of Zimbabwe, Ancient Ways decided to expand its mission to promote public health projects, educational impowerment, facilities improvements and long-term sustainability in a group of Zimbabwean villages.

The very first money Ancient Ways raised was $60, $10 each for the six original villages in the project. That was Nov. 25, 1999.

"That same day we got a phone call that Dumi Maraire had passed on," Beck said. "So for me it was this profound passing on of the baton. I wasn't going to be able to necessarily give back to Dumi's villages but we were going to be able to give back."

"There is kind of this passionate feeling that most of us want to give back because this music has been so transformative in our lives," Beck added.

Despite the nonprofit's meager beginning and shoe-string budget it was able to take on larger and larger projects over time.

During Beck's first trip to Zimbabwe in March 2000, she witnessed the devastating effects of Cyclone Eline and quickly added hut rebuilding to Ancient Ways' list of projects.

Ancient Ways now runs several major programs: Nhimbe for Progress in the Mhondoro region was established in 1999 and Jangano in the Dambatsoko region began in 2005. In all, 13 main villages fall under the umbrella of Ancient Ways programs. Beck has visited Zimbabwe 12 times since 1999.

Ancient Ways' focus has always been on giving "the fishing pole and not the fish," according to Beck, but the recent famine in the regions where Ancient Ways runs education, infrastructure and heath projects led to the decision by the non-profit to focus on hunger relief.

"It's a dire situation," Beck said. "I started getting word from the villages in October that people were starving. Some people are going more than a day without food."

In response, Beck launched a letter-writing campaign and raised $10,000.

That was enough to send 14 tons of food, mostly maize, a key staple in the area. The food was sent earlier this month.

But it's not enough to cover all the residents in the villages that Ancient Ways serves. They need about $28,000 a month to cover the cost of food until the famine eases, according to Beck.

"What we sent is about one-third of that," Beck said. There is some hope on the horizon with summer harvest due in April. "Basically, we need to raise money for the next two months until they can start getting food from their gardens," she said.

Because of the urgent need for funds for famine relief the Ancient Ways marimba group decided to host a benefit concert.

The suggested donation at the door of $15 is what it takes to feed one Zimbabwean adult for a month. The same amount will do for two children for the same length of time. The concert will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31, in the Corvallis First United Methodist Church Community center.

Beck is hopeful that upbeat sounds of the marimbas playing the hopeful music of Zimbabwe will move people to donate money for food so that someday Ancient Ways can get back to its core projects in Zimbabwe.

"If people are sick and dying due to malnutrition and starvation, all the best-laid plans for the future are useless," Beck said.

Beck plans to return to Zimbabwe in March 2009.

CHECK IT OUT

Ancient Ways famine relief concert, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31, First United Methodist Church Community Center, at 12th Street and Jackson Avenue, Corvallis. African drumming, Celtic fiddle and more than two hours of marimba music. Suggested donation: $15. Refreshments and Zimbabwean crafts will be sold. Information: www.ancient-ways.org or 259-HOPE. Donations can also be sent to P.O. Box 346, Scio, OR, 97374.