The
project commission is planning to set up another project
possibility for students. Having learned a lot from the Bosnia project
in the past years we are ready to head for a new destination.
In the former UDSSR handicapped people were seen as being a
lot less
worth than other. There were send to homes, where they lived under
inhuman conditions, being held in crowded houses, not taken out of
their beds and their development possibilities were not supported in
any way.
Perspectives e.V. is an association who started to work in 1996 at one
of those horrible orphanages for handicapped children nearby St.
Petersburg in Russia. In the past ten years Perspectives e.V. achieved
amazing improvements by helping out one of the homes financially, with
more staff and medically as well. They contributed largely to the
situation of the children and adults. Now they can follow a slightly
more normal life, being respected and treated like real human beings.
Newsupdate 21 01 2008 Organisation
visit to Saint Petersburg
(November
29th-December
7th)
From
November 29th
to December 7th
Verena Heidenreich and I (Melanie Schmitz) went to Saint Petersburg
for a first “organisation visit” to see the place and to meet the
people there.
It was
a very special week
for us, to experience, how the severe disabled children and adults
live (let’s better say: survive) in circumstances, which you cannot
believe, if you don’t see them. But also the joy and smiles on the
faces, if you touch them, talk to them and just tread them as human
beings.
We
spent three days in
Pawlowsk (around 1,5 hours away from Petersburg), in the “children
home” and one day in the “Peterhof”- the “psycho-neurological
institution” for all kinds of disabled adults.
In this
time we met the
“responsible people” (coordinators) and people, who work with
music in the two institutions. They all seem very interested and
enthusiastic and came up with great ideas to realize the project.
In
Pawlowsk our main focus
was to give the young co-workers (from Russia, Poland and Germany),
who mostly live and work there for a year, a short introduction and
idea, how to use music-therapy-elements in their work with the
children. Therefore we did some therapy sequences (individual and
group sessions), where the co-workers could first observe and then
try themselves to build up a basic musical contact to the child.
In the
“Peterhof”, the
music-therapist (there is no real music-therapy training in Russia,
so she studied music and psychology) showed us around and did some
individual therapy sequences and one group with ~ 12 young adults. We
were very impressed, how well structured she hold the group together
and involved everybody individually.
The
last evening we had a
meeting with our “contact people” and everybody brought in
his/her ideas and wishes.
At the
end we came to the
following decision:
In
April (~
3rd-13th)
we would like to start a pilot project and go to St. Petersburg with
6 music-therapists/students (+ the two of us).
Four
therapists will
mainly work with the children and co-workers, do mostly individual
and some group sessions.
The
main focus in the
“Peterhof” would be to work together with the music-therapist
there, mainly group sessions, but also to show the
co-workers-especially in the work with the severe disabled people-how
they can use music to build up a basic contact and communication
base. We planed two therapists for this work.
We will
see, how
everything works out and depending on this a “new phase” begins
in November 2008 and eventually in March 2009.
For
further information
you are very welcome to contact us at projects@eamts.org.
January 2008 Dear
Members, Contacts Persons and Partners, our
second project location has been established and the first pilot
project will be carried out in April this year (4th.-14th of April
2008).Please find attached some information
about our
new project plans in St. Petersburg and forward this email to the
students of your university.For our first pilot
try out we
need 6 enthusiastic music therapists or students who are interested in
coming to St. Petersburg with Melanie and me for a period of 10 days in
April (7 days in Russia, preperation in Berlin).It
will be a very rewarding experience. We went on our preparational trip
in December and met very interested and wonderful people there. It will
be a very good and sustainable project.Read
about it and if you are interested in coming with us, please mail to mail@eamts.org
to Melanie Schmitz.You can find more information
about the organisation and their work on http://www.perspektiven-verein.de/ or
if you search the name on the internet. The Russia Project Team, Verena and Melanie
In February 2006, I [Verena Heidenreich] met Margarete
van der
Borch who set
up the association. She was very enthusiastic about the possibility of
working together with the EAMTS and introducing music therapy at the
institution. Aiming for a good sustainability the project will be set
up as a training period for staff and voluntary workers on how to
include music therapy methods and musical activities into the work with
handicapped children and adults.
The dates are yet not set, but probably take place more likely in the
second half of the year 2007. The project commission is planning to go
to St. Petersburg for preparation end of this year or beginning of next
year. A German charity association already semi-assured, that the EAMTS
would receive financial aid.
That
means for next year (2007) we will be looking for enthusiastic and
committed students and young professionals who are experienced in
working with handicapped children and adults and would like to be part
of the project.
The team should consist of 6-8 participants. We will keep you
updated
as soon as we have more information on the exact dates and on the
project development. Please let us know if you or students and
young music therapist you know would be interested in participating in
the St. Petersburg project.
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