Music as Therapy

Showing posts for 2009 - Show all posts

• 21

  DEC
  2009

  Posted at 19:36

  News from Romania

  I spotted today an article on the BBC News website by Chris Rogers - a reporter with a longstanding association with Romania and, in particular, Romanian orphans.  What intererested me in what he had written was his observations of the transformation that has taken place in one former orphanage in Cighid.  The conditions in this institution shocked the world when photographs of its neglected children emerged twenty years ago, but it is a very different place now.  He attributes much of the change to the dynamic director, Oarcea Pavel, with whom we were delighted to work when we took a six-week introductory music therapy project to staff working with the children in Cighid back in 2002.  Chris Rogers observes the children now have musical instruments... these were donated by Music as Therapy!  I'm tempted to try and track him down and let him know they don't just have musical instruments, they have a fully functioning therapeutic music programme which we have received reports on for the last seven years!  Read more:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8425001.stm 

• 08

  DEC
  2009

  Posted at 15:10

  Strategy and Plan

  As mentioned in an earlier posting, our Advisory Panel meets annually to reflect on recent activities, review the ever-changing contexts of our work and to use a clinical focus to help steer our future direction. We now have a date set for our next meeting: Saturday 9th January 2010.  Our enormous thanks go to all Advisory Panel members who are travelling from far and wide to attend the day, or contributing their contributions via email.
   

• 07

  DEC
  2009

  Posted at 22:17

  Project Bethlehem

  The six-week skill-sharing project in Bethlehem has now ended and Liz Coombes and Hannah McCabe have returned safely to the UK.  We can't thank them enough for the enormous investment they've made in the children of the SOS Village and School.  The next stage of our involvement in Bethlehem is to meet with Project Partners Canon Paul Miller and Claire Tillotson to discuss how we can build on Liz and Hannah's work and respond to the needs of the Local Partners - something we know to be vital to the sustainability of any project.  This will happen in the New Year, so watch this space for news about what might happen next in Bethlehem.

• 29

  OCT
  2009

  Posted at 16:35

  Project Bethlehem

  Project Bethlehem has began!

  Music Therapist, Liz Coombes and her 'Assistant, musician Hannah McCabe travelled to Bethlehem on the 24th October to deliver a six week skill-sharing project for staff and children at the SOS Children's Village and School. They were accompanied by Project Partners, Canon Paul Miller and Music Therapist, Claire Tillotson who were overseeing the first few days of the project and helping them settle in. All seems to be going really well and we were delighted to hear from the team..."Everyone has been extremely welcoming to us here and the children are so excited! We went to the school today and we were both extremely moved at how accepting and enthusiastic the staff were about our visit and about music therapy. We have already drafted up a plan for this week and I think almost sorted the staff who will take part. We will be going back to the school over the next couple of days to observe the children and classes etc and hopefully get to know everyone a little more."

  Liz and Hannah will be posting a regular blog on the website, so please do check in for their up-to-date progress - it promises to be an exciting project! 

   

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