Learn More About MUSICWORKS
Learn more about what MusicWorks does, and our programmes. This collection of short films showcases the programmes and the impact we have on vulnerable children and young people in local communities.
Music Works
Singing to a new tune
Sound the trumpets! Drumroll please…and blow those vuvuzelas! On the 10th of February 2014, the Music Therapy Community Clinic becomes MusicWorks! [gap height=”20″] Welcome to our new website – which tells the story of how MusicWorks uses the power of music to unlock potential in the lives of children and young people in Cape Town. Since 2003 we have conducted pioneering work in the field of Music Therapy in marginalised communities, for which we have received recognition both locally and abroad. We‘ve developed a practice that is unique to the South African context, adapted to the needs of our beneficiaries and which embraces the musical and cultural diversity of this country. Our work over the past decade has enforced our belief that music is a social resource, with the profound ability to strengthen and heal individuals, as well as communities. We’ve chosen a new name for the organisation that echoes this: We know that music works – we bear witness to this in our various programmes every day. The new logo is a visual representation of our work. The circle within a circle symbolises a pulse or beat – the music within us and around us to which we all respond. Different colours and sizes… Read More »Singing to a new tune
Alive, awake and ready to play
Six-year-old Eliah*, suffering from acute and debilitating cerebral palsy, was admitted to a palliative care centre for children in Cape Town during 2013. Soon thereafter, he was referred to MusicWorks for pain management. [gap height=”20″] Eliah is not able to walk or even move much, as his little body is in continuous spasm. His mouth appears to be fixed in a painful grimace. When admitted, he was also severely neglected and malnourished. During the first two sessions, Eliah was in severe pain. Bedsores and a newly inserted feeding peg caused him huge discomfort. The only sound caregivers ever heard him make was a soft whimpering. A huge smile was Eliah’s first response to our music therapist’s initial approach. She observed his ‘quiet presence’ and glimpses of a perceptive and alive young boy in the broken little body. Music therapist Renee van den Berg explains: “I sang a few songs, with guitar, and in different musical styles. I playfully teased him by suddenly stopping mid-song and asking him what was happening, and was greeted with the broadest and most striking smile every time. Eliah could not move or make a sound, but his responsive expressions said ‘I’m alive, I’m awake and I’m ready to play’.” [hr… Read More »Alive, awake and ready to play
Good-Enough Songs
In June 2011 ten teenage girls from Khayelitsha, in foster care, joined a group of girls from Heideveld and Nyanga for the Music for Life programme. The girls knew one another from previous musical events, but this meeting was different – it would take the shape of a forum for sharing personal concerns. [hr style=”1″ margin=”40px 0px 40px 0px”] There was little energy in the room during the first group session. Before, girls were meeting on musical terms. Now – on their own initiative – they were here to air and discuss personal concerns and issues. Issues such as teenage pregnancy. But the room was quiet. Narrative therapist and MusicWorks facilitator, Thérèse Hulme, put forward the question: “What should we be talking about instead, then?” It was as if the question ignited a fire. From around the circle, girls literally cried out about being constantly put down and criticised in their communities. One girl said everyone expected the worst from them. Someone remarked that if everyone thought you would get pregnant, you might as well get pregnant because it was expected anyway. “Yes, yes, it’s just like that,” others were cheering her on. “We’re not good enough,” they all agreed. This prompted the question: “Is… Read More »Good-Enough Songs
Marimbas speak louder than words
In 2007, Marcelino Fielies and seven other “troublemakers” at a primary school in Heideveld, were referred to the Music for Life Programme. Seven years later, Marcelino is a marimba teacher, community role model and proud MusicWorks facilitator. [hr style=”1″ margin=”40px 0px 40px 0px”] In Marcelino’s words: “I would like to work with people in my community, through music. My community has too much gangsterism. People do bad stuff to fit in with other people. I want to make the world a better place. My plan with music is to teach it to other people of all ages… [ ]. I care for the people in the community… I am going to print in their minds that they can fit in by doing good stuff as well. I’ve been playing the marimbas and drums for five years with MusicWorks. I started to teach children in my community to play marimba since the beginning of 2012. I can actually see what they are going through in life, because before I was part of it. I crawled, then I walked. Now I am running… I never knew I would get as far as I did. … I observed what other people did, and I thought to myself, I… Read More »Marimbas speak louder than words