Musicality and Intergenerational Support for Thriving Children in Transition: Estela’s Case Study

A day in Estela’s life is similar to that of many six-year-old girls, since she spends the day with her grandmother, except for the period she is at school. However, she experiences a relation that is the opposite of the expected: The granddaughter has the function of caring for her visually impaired grandmother, helping her move around and eat. In-between challenges, Estela’s day-to-day life is permeated by relaxed and good-tempered exchanges, with games and rhymes her grandmother recollects from her childhood in the state of Bahia, thus teaching her granddaughter, who was born in São Paulo. It is through music that the grandmother shares her experiences and her history, enabling affective bonds to be built between them and affording intergenerational exchange and support. This relationship lets the girl assimilate, in a positive way and from an early age, the difficult life her grandmother had in the countryside of Bahia and still experiences because of her visual impairment. Through music, which fills their shared life with lightness, the girl develops the feelings of empathy and solidarity. Additionally, Estela applies the values she learns from her grandmother in her everyday life, and they are reflected in her transactions with other people, both at home and at school.

Keywords: Care, Cultural Transition, Family Support, Folkloric Chants, Intergenerational Relationships, Music, School Success, Thriving.