EAMTS project 2005 - Working with children in Mostar

Here you find two reports on the last EAMTS project in Bosnia and Herzegowina. The first written by Liane Eikelenboom, the second - unfortnuately only available in German - by Benjamin Morlath. Read their impressions as participants of the EAMTS project 2005.

Challenge and rich experiences

Well, the month of September has been quite the experience for me. I will try to give you all a nice impression, but let me tell you: if you want to know how it really is, just go there!

I will start by telling you what I will miss the most. The team is definitely number 1! Let me explain: there was Gabriele with her 'Quetsche' (accordion) and her funny German-English and cute sound of laughter. Then there was Jim, our typical Englishman, who makes deep, loud sighs that seem to come from his toes. Those tell the people around him how much he is enjoying something (his own English tea, Burek, the 'Fish Platter' in Blagaj, the sun). And Mike, the old Englishman, who wasn't that old after all and who turned out to be a great substitute leader/daddy ;-). And Benjamin who was the main energy force in the team. He became a very close friend of mine and I learned so much from him: acrobatics, juggling, guitar songs (Britney Spears for example), Deutsche Sprichwörter und Gedichte… And then there were the two sweet Dutch girls, Jantina and Anne-Marieke, of whom you can't speak separately. They always managed to keep up their spirits, no matter what happened and they always made me laugh with their strange own subculture (Bobo-style). Then there is the other Dutchy, Lilian! She struggled a lot with being in Mostar, but she still managed to be a great example and inspiration for me in being strict and consequent to the kids. And last but certainly not least: SPELA!!! Spela is free like a little child, but she also managed to hold the responsibility for every team member and to be interested in every person individually. She has an amazing way of showing that. Thank you Spela!

Then besides the team… what will I also miss very much? I guess at number 2 there is the beautiful surroundings: the mountains that were always there, the beautiful skies that would change every 20 seconds and the river Neretva that we could hear 24/7! That was nice. On number 3 there is definitely the Bosnian pace of life: 'Polako' which means 'Relax'. Then at number 4, there is the sun and the high temperature and number 5 is a shared place for the hot chocolate on the 'Terasa' and the great food and the nice waiters in my favorite restaurant, the Kulluk.

Maybe reading the first part of this story, you were thinking: "Hey, what about the kids she worked with? Is she not going to miss them?" Well, to be honest, there is only one kid that I will really miss. Her name is Nadira, she is about 4 years old, learning disabled (she can't speak) and very cheeky, but oh so sweet and funny! The rest of the kids were soooo amazingly difficult to handle, that I must say that personally I won't miss them. Maybe that sounds a bit strange, but these kids have a way of making you dislike them very much. Not all the time, thank God! Of course we had good moments with them. But they long so much for attention, that they would do anything to get it: they wreck instruments, steal your earrings, shout in your ear, hit you, spit you in the face, ignore you… you name it, they do it! It is all about getting the most attention. It was hard to work with these kids in groups, because then there is much competition between them and there is no way in which you could give enough attention to them all. Sometimes that made me feel very powerless.

The kids taught me to be strict and angry. I don't like being angry. I always feel I have to play a role to be angry, but these kids really got me angry sometimes. That was a strange sensation. They also taught me to be flexible and to keep my expectations lower than low. If I expected nothing, and they acted like they didn't care that we were there, then it wasn't so hard to cope with that. I learned not to take it personally. And then, sometimes, the circumstances were right to actually have a nice session in which we could really enjoy music together. But that didn't happen much.

So, mixed feelings as you can imagine. But if I had to give you one advice: go there and experience it for yourself. You won't feel sorry! At least… I didn't!

Liane Eikelenboom

The EAMTS project team 2005

Mit Musik Brücken bauen - Musiktherapie in Mostar, Bosnien Herzigovina

Mostar im September 2005: Selbst 10 Jahre nach dem Kriegsende auf dem Balkan ist die Stadt im Süden Bosnien-Herzigovinas noch immer von seinen Folgen gezeichnet. Zwar erinnern der restaurierte Stadtkern und die 2004 wieder eröffnete Alte Brücke an die Atmosphäre einer der schönsten Stadt im ehemaligen Jugoslawien, das restliche Stadtbild jedoch ist geprägt von verlassenen Ruinen eingestürzten Hausskeletten und zerschossenen Fassaden. Nach wie vor ist Mostar in eine moslemische und eine kroatische Hälfte geteilt; gesellschaftlich hat der Brückenschlag über die Neretva noch nicht stattgefunden. Das Misstrauen in ehemalige Freunde und Feinde ist noch zu groß, die Ursachen für den Krieg zu komplex und undurchsichtig.

Bereits zum zweiten Mal organisierte die European Association For Music Therapy Students ein Projekt, um Musiktherapie an verschiedensten Stellen Mostars anzubieten. Wir, eine Gruppe von neun Musiktherapiestudenten aus ganz Europa - darunter ich als Vertretung der Fachhochschule Magdeburg - arbeiteten für drei Wochen in Einrichtungen für lern- und körperbehinderte Kinder und Erwachsene, in Sinti- und Romacamps sowie in einem Waisenhaus, in welchem wir auch wohnten konnten. Ausserdem versuchten wir als neutrale Organisation zwischen sozialen Organisationen auf den verschiedenen Seiten der Stadt zu vermitteln und gaben eine Musiktherapiepräsentation in einem Kinderkrankenhaus in Sarajevo.

Am meisten berührte mich in dieser Zeit die Arbeit mit den Waisenkindern. Durch Singen, Tanzen, und Musizieren konnten wir schnell alle Sprachbarrieren überwinden und einen kreativen Spielraum entwickeln, in dem uns die Kinder Einblick in ihre alltägliche Gefühlswelt gewährten. In drei Wochen erlebte ich alle Emotionen im Extrem: Liebe und Nähe, sowie Hass und Aggression. Stürmische Umarmungen, zerrissene Trommeln, harmonische Lieder, Tränen und blaue Flecken im ständigen Wechsel. Es war schmerzlich zu sehen, wie sehr die Kinder auf der Suche nach Aufmerksamkeit und persönlichem Kontakt waren und wie unterschiedlich jedes Kind mit Vertrauen und Wärme, aber auch mit Eifersucht und der Angst vor Verlust umging.

Nach drei Wochen bleibt die Erfahrung, wie bedeutsam und elementar die kleinen Gesten, Körper- und Augenkontakt, ein gemeinsames Lächeln, aber auch das Aushalten von Wut und Aggression für Menschen in extremen Lebenssituationen sein können. Aber auch das Erleben einer fremden Kultur, die zwischen nationalen und religiösen Konflikten eine eigene Identität noch nicht gefunden hat. Ich bin überzeugt, dass Musik in Mostar ein großes integratives Potenzial birgt und hoffe, dass unsere Lieder noch eine Weile weiter klingen werden.

Benjamin Morlath

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