(The following letter appeared originally in the Music Therapy Association of Ontario newsletter, Progressions, November 2001 issue.Ellen Lindau hails from Toronto and along with her siblings has contributed greatly to the Estonian choral music scene here.)
One of the reasons I became a music therapist was so that I would have the option to live and work in any place in the world. I have always had a desire to travel and experience different cultures. When I saw the advertisement in the AMTA job listing looking for a music therapist to work in Bosnia-Hercegovina, I knew that I had to apply for it.
After a long and complicated hiring process, I was offered a one-year contract and I accepted. My journey began April 6, 2001 and shortly after arriving in Mostar (a small city south of Sarajevo) and beginning my work at the Pavarotti Music Centre, I felt I had made the right decision.
I have now been in Mostar for 6 months and would like to share some of my experiences with my colleagues back home.
This first excerpt will focus on providing a bit of history and background information to give you some idea of the work being done here.
The Pavarotti Music Centre (PMC) officially opened in December 1997 and has its origins in the ongoing work of the humanitarian organization War Child.
During the recent war in Bosnia-Hercegovina, War Child volunteers brought children together into shelters and cellars to make music in an attempt to bring them some relief from their daily suffering. After the war, the idea was conceived to build a permanent music centre in Mostar, where young people from all over Bosnia-Hercegovina could come regardless of their ethnic or religious background.
The PMC was built on the site of a destroyed primary school with monies raised from benefit concerts given by Pavarotti and Friends in Modena, Italy. This centre is a home to a music education program, a clinical music therapy program, a children's choir, a music school, A Blind School project in Sarajevo and a recording studio.
The music therapy department was set up in April 1998. There are two sound-proofed therapy rooms, each containing a piano and a variety of percusssion instruments; an office and resource room; audio and video equipment for analysis of clinical work; and a children's room and garden which is reserved for children and young people waiting for music therapy sessions. The music therapy team consists of three international music therapists (at present, a Canadian, an Australian and a German).
There are also three locally-appointed music therapy assistants who act as translators. Working with a translator has been an adjustment,particularly during individual music therapy sessions where the usual on-to-one relationship changes into a 3-way triangle. The aims of clinical music therapy at the PMC are to apply music therapy techniques to a broad range of problems affecting the children and young people of post-war Mostar and its surrounding areas.
The primary objective is to provide music therapy for individuals who are experiencing the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD). Our team works with all parts of the community receiving referrals from teachers, social workers, psychologists, speech therapists and parents.
We are committed to educating professionals of other disciplines on the principles of music therapy and we also act as ongoing advisors and consultants, providing support to teachers and caregivers on matters relating to PSTD and other disabilities. We are the only music therapists in the whole country of Bosnia-Hercegovina and sometimes this job can be quite overwhelming. However, the long term goal of our department is to have local music therapists working here and, at the present time, there are plans to send a few qualified individuals to study music therapy abroad.
In the next MTAO newsletter, I will share some of my experiences working in a post-war and post-communist country. I think of my colleagues in the MTAO often and hope that everyone is surviving the present world conflict.
Bye for now, ELLEN
A letter from overseas
Eestlased Kanadas | 14 Jan 2002 | EWR
Eestlased Kanadas
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