Our Vision

Health Songs International is a not for profit organization dedicated to bringing vital health messages to vulnerable communities throughout the world through the use of songs.

What is a Health Song?

A health song is a simple and succinct message about a health related issue put to music.

Why put these messages to music?

Rhyme and rhythm are a great help for us humans when it comes to remembering words. There has been a lot of scientific research on how these elements work together to help us with recall however to put it simply, the sound, shape and position of the words creates a familiarity that prompts the memory to select the next correct word or phrase.

A catchy melody is the magic ingredient for turning a simple message into a hit song and acts as a way of tying all the elements together in a fun and memorable way. A joyful little melody can also help when dealing with a potentially embarrassing topic and can act an ice breaker for a good healthy discussion.

We have a proverb at HSI:
“A hit song can travel faster than a virus”

The Power of being Focused

At HSI we realised that by focusing all our creative energies on the one thing, writing and promoting the use of health songs, we can actually make a difference to communities in need throughout the world. By pooling our talents and giving our full concentration to this single task we create health songs which are wonderful teaching aids to further enhance any health care program be it on a very local level or on a national scale. By doing what we do best we continue to improve the quality and delivery of our songs and so have set a benchmark for those who will follow.

Who will benefit from these songs?

Our beneficiaries come from a fairly broad spectrum of social strata but primarily our target groupings are those living in areas where there has been little access to sufficient health information to build and maintain a healthy community.

Who uses our songs?

Healthcare professionals find HSI’s songs to be very powerful teaching aids in further enhancing their own community healthcare programs. Understanding that many organisations working within our target communities are themselves often cash strapped, HSI aims to keep our health songs very affordable and easily accessible. See our downloads page.

Empowering nationals to create health songs

HSI holds regular health song writing seminars in the countries where we work. Through these seminars the HSI team is able to gather and interact with local song writers, learn about their musical culture and teach some simple techniques for adapting local styles to creating new health songs.

History of HSI

Rob Greaney, founder of HSI has been writing songs for over 35 years.  In 2000 Rob traveled to Indonesia and entered an arts university in the West Java capital of Bandung.  Studying both language and musical styles Rob soon began to compose songs in Bahasa Indonesia.  In 2003 Rob was commissioned by a local NGO from a rural setting to create an album of “Health Songs” to help teach “Good health” messages.

Through careful analysis of musical style and working closely with a team of skilled health workers, the album Indonesia Sehat was completed.  This album was used extensively by the group and was received with delight by the locals in the context of neighbourhood health clinics.
This album was the genesis of HSI as it is known today.

Following the devastating Boxing day 2004 tsunami which destroyed much of the province of Aceh in North Sumatra, Rob was seconded to MSF (Medicines Sans Frontieres) or Doctors without borders to create a recording in the Acehnese language.  One of MSF’s psycho-social workers approached Rob saying that many of the orphaned children from the tsunami would wake up after wetting the bed.  When asked why they thought they wet their beds many would reply “We are afraid because we don’t know what to do if there’s another big earthquake”.  The album was entitle, “Kami tidak akan takut” which in Indonesian means “We will not be afraid”.  The first song (Wate na geumpa rayeuk) when translated means “When there is a big earthquake”. This song which you can hear on our recording page under the “Past recordings” tab tells the children how they could prepare themselves in case there was another big earthquake.  It also told them about things to look out for, how to make a preparation kit and what to put in it, where to run to as well as things not to do like going down to the beach to collect fish when the tide goes out a long way from the beach.

The production of this album was funded entirely by MSF with Rob providing his talents free of charge.  MSF made 8000 copies of this album and distributed them free of charge throughout the province.

It was this second album that really lit the fire inside Rob’s heart.  He began to see a huge hole in the global approach to tackling health education.  Rob was aware that using songs to teach health was by no means a new concept however the fact that there was no single organization that had dedicated itself to writing and promoting health songs on any organized level seemed astonishing to him.  Who would you call if you needed some advice on creating your own album of health songs?  

From that time on HSI began to take shape.  In 2009 the HSI website was launched and HSI became an incorporated company registered in Singapore. 

• Bahasa Indonesia
• Português