Humanitarian plight in South Sudan highlighted in Sina's winning song

An original song about people’s struggle to survive in South Sudan won young Gisborne musician Sina Finau the years 7-10 section of the Caritas SINGout4JUSTICE national songwriting competition.

Sina’s song Lifeline was among more than 80 entries in the competition.

The Year 8 Campion College student says Lifeline is about the humanitarian struggle in South Sudan.

“Hopefully everyone who listens will be able to hear what they are going through and that we need to pay closer attention to this.”

This year’s SINGout4JUSTICE theme was “home for good”.

It links with Catholic organisation Caritas’s 2019 focus on the issue of displacement, injustices and challenges faced by the people of South Sudan.

Sina composed Lifeline during a school programme called Impact, for which students work on their own projects.

The young musician wrote the lyrics first. She and itinerant music teacher Gana Goldsmith, of Gisborne band Uni-Fi, brainstormed ideas.

Ms Goldsmith also taught Sina a few of her own songwriting techniques.

Sina also visited a website that has 10 lyric starters. She had an opening line to her song but changed that as she developed the lyrics, she said.

Sina also explored chord combinations. The song begins in a minor key, a melancholic sound, but Sina went on to add brighter, major, chords for the verse.

Ms Goldsmith added backing vocals to Sina’s composition, which can be heard at https://tinyurl.com/yxrk5z9a.

Each winner receives $500 in prizes that contribute to their musical development.

An original song about people’s struggle to survive in South Sudan won young Gisborne musician Sina Finau the years 7-10 section of the Caritas SINGout4JUSTICE national songwriting competition.

Sina’s song Lifeline was among more than 80 entries in the competition.

The Year 8 Campion College student says Lifeline is about the humanitarian struggle in South Sudan.

“Hopefully everyone who listens will be able to hear what they are going through and that we need to pay closer attention to this.”

This year’s SINGout4JUSTICE theme was “home for good”.

It links with Catholic organisation Caritas’s 2019 focus on the issue of displacement, injustices and challenges faced by the people of South Sudan.

Sina composed Lifeline during a school programme called Impact, for which students work on their own projects.

The young musician wrote the lyrics first. She and itinerant music teacher Gana Goldsmith, of Gisborne band Uni-Fi, brainstormed ideas.

Ms Goldsmith also taught Sina a few of her own songwriting techniques.

Sina also visited a website that has 10 lyric starters. She had an opening line to her song but changed that as she developed the lyrics, she said.

Sina also explored chord combinations. The song begins in a minor key, a melancholic sound, but Sina went on to add brighter, major, chords for the verse.

Ms Goldsmith added backing vocals to Sina’s composition, which can be heard at https://tinyurl.com/yxrk5z9a.

Each winner receives $500 in prizes that contribute to their musical development.