Music Therapy at Kings Hosptial

This entry is a bit delayed, and refers to events of Tuesday and Wednesday last week:

Our music therapy experience here has been multifaceted and very moving. From percussion/drum circles to song circles to working with music applications on the iPad, the children served by the school and orphanage are eager to share their music with us. We teach them a song like "This Little Light of Mine" and they return the favor by translating the song into Creole for us. We teach them simple percussion techniques and they enhance the experience with their own traditional Haitian rhythms. We play a recorded arrangement of the Haitian national anthem to a group of pre-teen boys, and they burst into song with a power that moves me to tears. Molly and Donna are finding their own ways of working with the students and are developing unique approaches as therapeutic opportunities arise. After speaking to the nursing staff this morning, the Drs. Morquette asked us to provide music for patients within the hospital tomorrow morning. I am excited and honored and look forward to working with patients and
their families.

Elizabeth

Reflections on our trip

One of the primary goals of the Arts for Haiti service learning trip was to empower Haitians to teach and empower themselves, develop a vision for their own individual and collective desires for the future of their culture and country. The question was asked at the beginning of the trip: What can ten women do in the midst of the devastating and overwhelming situation that exists in post-earthquake Port au Prince? The students initially felt a bit overwhelmed after our first day of touring the damaged areas of the city, including the governmental buildings that remain in the same collapsed state as they fell nearly two years ago. They stand as toppled monuments the event. We asked ourselves how we could offer some relief and provide hope. The warmth and graciousness of our hosts, and those with whom we worked answered our questions. They responded to our offerings very positively, and embraced bringing music and art back into their worlds. The white hospital walls now hold art created in response to this trip, and some created by students from other colleges and universities. The sounds of spontaneous singing and drumming were heard as we walked to the van on our final day at the hospital. The children responded to their circumstances by making brightly colored faneaux that art a traditionaldecoration for the holidays. The colors are reflective of the Caribean, and demonstrated the vision of the young individuals have for their future. We observed as the older students at the Kings Garden boarding school taught younger students traditional drumming rhythms, and showed younger students how to create the faneaux. In the end, we feel that although we brought our talents to share with them, they, in return, shared their warmth, their hospitality and their hearts with us. There is hope for the resilience and rebirth of Haiti. It is bittersweet to be home, but good to be back in time to share the holidays with friends and family!

Therapy fusion....

Things are just now beginning to take on a wonderful synchronistic rhythm. This morning Elizabeth, Donna and Molly offered music therapy with the little children, and the influence of that filtered through the day. Young students were singing as they drew, and later in the afternoon a group of high school boys broke out in a spontaneous drumming session using the table top as a drum. They moved into the girls dining hall and used the paddle drums. Before long everyone had filtered inside and there was a real party just before lunch. Everyone loved the rhythms and we danced together joyfully.

The art involve group work with children working collectively on panels which will be brought home. They worked very intently for quite a while. The smaller children made schematic drawings, and the older childre focused on more abstract patterns. They really turned out beautifully (see photo). The art therapy students are now feeling comfortable enough to work individually and in small groups, and they made headbands from from strips of fabric from t-shirts -- a transferrable skill that enhances on multiple levels. There was also time to work in small groups with the young teenage boys and girls on imagining a future. Some want to become doctors or pilots, one wants to become a singer. It was good for them to be able to imagine and express what their future might hold.

This is hump day. There is a little bit of sadness knowing that we will only be here two more days. Tomorrow we will see more of the countryside, which will help to broaden our understanding of Haiti. Dr. Morquette gave us a history of Haiti and it's cultural roots, so we have the underpinnings of greater understanding. The final day will be exciting as the childen will have finished their exams, so we will have a celebration.

There is so much more to share and many photos of the friendships we have formed that will last many years. It's such a wonderful experience for all of us!

There's a party in our room!

Four of the students are preparing one of tomorrow's art directives. We've learned it's very important to have examples prepared, in various stages of completion, when working with the chilldren at King's Garden. Often, art therapists avoid examples as they can interfere with the process of creative expression. Within this context, however, it seems to ameliorate some
of the challenges we've encountered, including the children's limited exposure to art experiences, art media (even locally available), and opportunities for critical and abstract problem solving. Anyway, the students are working to master the up-cycled material so they can adapt instruction for kids of diverse ages and abilities tomorrow! We're all overtired and it's the beginning of a late night, so they're getting a tiny bit slappy! It's wonderful to hear their laughter and see how well everyone relates, contributes, and works together! The students led the art experiences today, and they did a great job. Each is having leadership opportunities, and everyone is directly
engaged with the children. It's a good thing we have a ten-member team, as the number of kids we're working is quite large! Our students will never forget what they are learning, seeing, hearing, tasting, and feeling on this trip. We'll get a half an hour more sleep in the morning, and we're grateful! I'm not sure about the Converse crew, but Tamara and I are averaging about five hours of sleep a night, so this is just a short message tonight. More tomorrow... In Peace and Love, Gaelynn Wolf Bordonoro, Emporia State University

Music brings joy...

Our music therapy experience here has been multifaceted and very moving. From percussion/drum circles to song circles to working with music applications on the iPad, the children served by the school and orphanage are eager to share their music with us. We teach them a song like "This Little Light of Mine" and they return the favor by translating the song into Creole for us. We teach them simple percussion techniques and they enhance the experience with their own traditional Haitian rhythms. We play a recorded arrangement of the Haitian national anthem to a group of pre-teen boys, and they burst into song with a power that moves me to tears. Molly and Donna are finding their own ways of working with the students and are developing unique approaches as therapeutic opportunities arise. After speaking to the nursing staff this morning, the Drs. Morquette asked us to provide music for patients within the hospital tomorrow morning. I am excited and honored and look forward to working with patients and
their families.

Elizabeth York

Emporia State University team members!

Good Evening! Tamara and I arrived in Port au Prince late Saturday night
at about 8:30pm. Our extended stay in Miami was relatively painless, although we
were very tired! After completing the necessary paperwork for our missing bags
(Wolf family, did anyone have bets registered?) we set out to find Dr.
Morquette. Thank goodness I can make calls in Haiti...we stayed on the phone
with him until we found one another! We said our hellos to our
pajama'd team when we got to the house, and Dr. Morquette ate a late supper with
us (for George and Anne, I shall report that it we enjoyed rice, tomatoes,
broccoli, and a creamy squash casserole). We're sharing a room with two large
windows and a fan from heaven! Although we were told the pump wasn't working
and we'd take bird/bucket baths, the shower head drizzled us with cold water and
we cooled down from the humidity and yuck of 18 hours of traveling.
Ahhhhh! The internet connection wasn't up last night, so I do apologize
for the delay in letting you know we arrived safely! We stayed up kinda
late chatting and figuring exactly what we had packed between the two of us,
then piled in our bunk bed for a well-needed snooze! The rooster woke
us this morning (well, quite frequently, really) early for breakfast, and we
enjoyed the wonderful cultural experience of going to church with the
Morquettes and the rest of the team. After, we conjoled our driver to stop at a road-side gallery of paintings, and engaged in another cultural practice...bargaining! Several
masterpieces are now proudly owned by team members (I'll try to send pictures
later...I have a great one of Tamara looking at the artwork). Uh
oh....we're being summoned to a team meeting! More soon... Bon
Nouit! In Peace and Love, Gaelynn

Taking it all in

Our drives through Port au Prince have given us some evidence of progress, slow as it may be, from our last visit. While many government buildings lay in mountains of rubble, just as they fell in January 2010, there are signs of hope. We saw schools with new temporary buildings and some new construction for homes. However, the beacon of hope we witnessed was our visit to the newly reconstructed Iron Market (see photo). This beautiful structure was funded by others and since the market is the center of commerce, it is quite symbolic. To one side of the towers pictured are tiny stalls side by side of vendors selling fruit, rice, hand made graters and handcarved wooden spoons and bowls. On the other side of the tower are numerous artists selling their arts and crafts. The seemingly impassable streets are still cluttered with street vendors selling every imaginable item, but the system functions, and there is some improvement to be noted.

Our team (minus the two members from Emporia State) is also pictured, and this will be updated with a new one soon.

We've experienced a myriad of emotions -- even those of us who have visited before. It is an adjustment, to be sure, but once we reached the guesthouse, everything normalized and we began to process through discussion and art all that we are experiencing.

Tomorrow we will begin our work at the Hospital, sharing with professionals the benefits of both Music Therapy and Art Therapy. We are all really looking forward to this experience.

Day of Rest

Today is our first full day with our hosts in Haiti. Yesterday we were greeted outside of immigration and driven around the city. My first reaction was of shock and awe. Seeing all of the destruction of the city. It was so much worse than I thought it would be, and I had mentally prepared myself before we left the states.
The people are so kind and generous, our hosts have been so gracious and wonderful. Today we accompanied our hosts to a methodist church that they attend. It was interesting to hear a sermon in french and yet he sounded very similiar to a pastor at home! Everyone was very welcoming, even though our presence was definitely a noticable one. I'm looking forward to meeting all of the children tomorrow, I can't wait to do art with them!

Anticipation is building as we prepare to return to Haiti. Those of us who have been before will be anxious to see how things have progressed since the elections last year. We will also be excited to see those we met and worked with during our last visit. Those who will be making their first trip will be looking forward to an exciting new experience and opportunity to serve. We have a wonderful group: three professors: two Board Certified Art Therapists and one Board Certified Music Therapist. We will not only be serving, but learning from each other. Our students bring a wonderful blend of educational and personal experience. And, of course, we are looking forward to seeing our hosts again when we arrive tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who has supported our efforts in many various ways!