The melody and structure of this song are adapted from a traditional Mauritian lullaby—one sung to generations of children across the islands. Today, its voice is extended in spirit to all children in Gaza, the West Bank, and beyond. The poem’s lyrics, written especially in 2024, are dedicated to Palestinian children and to all those who love and mourn them.
The names appearing in the video represent only a small fraction of the tens of thousands of children killed in Gaza since October 2023. The numbers continue to rise. May these innocent lives never be erased from memory.
Credits:
Concept, Vocals & Poetry – Tania Haberland
Concept, Vocals & Lyrics – Mélanie Pérès
Concept & Translations – Lindsey Collen
Acoustic Guitar – Hansley Bhugmonea
Percussion – Jaysley Bhugmonea
Piano – Randy Ramos
Team Coordinator – Nitin Bhugmonea
Music recorded and produced by Gary Bhujun
Video by Terry Westby-Nunn
With the collaboration of:
NuZwé Music Hub
R Piano Studio
Swatt Studio
SOMALP (Solidarité Morisyin Ar Lepep Palestininn)
The project is part of the subtheme Writing After – Catastrophe, Memory, and the Archive of Loss.
Author
Tania Haberland
Tania Haberland (BA,HDE, MA) is a poet, bodyworder and biophilic artivist, born in South Africa to a Mauritian mother and a German father, raised in Arabia, miseducated in America and matured in Europe, with the water remaining her primary home (and muse) no matter what land she lives on. Tania has presented her intercultural work, her 'carnal poetics' and ecopoetic rituals, in festivals and performances around the world and loves collaborating with a wide variety of artists, animals and plants. She currently lives between Mauritius and Italy with her partner Fabrizio Dalle Piane, where she works on developing The Technology of Tenderness and their CreatiVita project. Her first poetry collection, Hyphen, won the Ingrid Jonker Prize in 2010. Her poem Resurrection was shortlisted for the Gerald Kraak award in 2016. Her first bilingual book Water Flame / Fiamma d’acqua was published by Mille Gru Editions in 2019. Tania was a resident curator/writer for Passa Porta in 2021 and Versopolis poet in 2020. Tania found her life motto on an eco-friendly shopping bag in San Francisco: “Shit Happens. Make Compost!”
