(Soma iyi nkuru muri Kinyarwanda.)

Makeda and I were on the plane not long ago, returning from a week in southwest Rwanda. Audace Musoni, Alphonsine Musabyemariya and Fidele Nshimiye are Rwandan staff who participated in skill sharing projects with Music as Therapy International, then Training of Trainers, and have gone on to train 59 other staff across Rwanda. They requested a visit to provide them with assistance in developing their new association, Youth Led Musical Therapy, to accompany them on support visits to the centres where they have trained others, and provide support for their own music as therapy practice.

Over a packed week Makeda and I were able to visit music sessions in five different centres; supporting disabled children, teenage mothers, street children, drug users and isolated elderly people. Makeda gave strategic advice for the development of the new association while I supported them in developing their reflective skills and with new activities to develop their music practice and training of others.

As my fifth trip to Rwanda, and having first met Alphonsine and Audace 12 years ago it was wonderful to meet them and other old friends, and see how their music practice has developed over so many years. It was also a real pleasure to meet Fidele, Jean Paul, Ildephonse and Mechack, the other members of the association. I was particularly struck by how much passion they, and all of those they have trained, have for the difference music can make to vulnerable and marginalised people in Rwanda. At many of the centres we heard moving testimonies from people of all ages who had benefited from the work of our Partners.

It was Makeda’s first trip to Rwanda, and this is what she has to say:

I’ve been communicating with our Partners in Rwanda via email, WhatsApp and Zoom for many years but have never been to Rwanda before, so leading up to my travels I was really excited to have the chance to meet our Rwandan Partners in-person and to get to know everyone better. We received warm welcomes from everyone at the five centres we visited: Urugwiro Centre, Rusizi Youth Centre (YEGO), the Alivera Centre, Inganzo Network Centre, and Ruhuka Mubeyei Group. It is amazing to know that these 5 settings combined have created the opportunity for over 820 children, youths and adults to have access to the benefits of music.

Whilst in Rwanda, I quickly saw how musically rich the culture is, which makes sense to why using music therapeutically has easily been integrated into the activities of the centres we visited. Watching music sessions and seeing beneficiaries really enjoy themselves as well as care practitioners being proud of using music was very inspiring. I also enjoyed getting stuck into all the dancing, singing and participating in some very creative musical activities.

The additional training for the Rwandan Trainers and the discussions focused on their new association, YLMT, went very well. Caroline and I were able to share helpful guidance and many new ideas. But the learning went both ways as we had also gained a deeper understanding of some social issues particularly for young people and what is needed to establish a new local association in Rwanda. Our Partners at YLMT are very passionate about their work with music and I look forward to watching YLMT grow in Rwanda!

I also want to mention that Caroline was a fantastic travel buddy, and I really appreciated when Caroline took the lead with greeting people in the local language, Kinyarwanda. Although this trip was an intense week, I shared many moments of smiling and laughing with many people. So hopefully I can return to Rwanda again one day. But so far, our Partners have been fantastic pioneers in leading their music initiatives within their country.

On our final day in Kamembe, Makeda and I, and all of Youth Led Musical Therapy had a wonderful lunch on the shore of beautiful Lake Kivu while eagles swooped around us, with an exchange of gifts.

We were extremely grateful to Rwanda Action for accommodating us for the week. In particular Janys Watson, CEO of the organisation, who even lent us clothes for a few days until our luggage arrived(!), and Patrick Kalisa who drove us back to Kigali, where we saw baboons by the side of the road as we passed through spectacular Nyungwe rainforest.

I’ve left Rwanda after a week of sunshine, warm hospitality, beautiful scenery and laughter, and looking forward to hearing about the next steps for Youth Led Musical Therapy.

Caroline

Inspired to start using music at your centre in Rwanda?

Take a look at our Rwandan Partners’ leaflet (in Kinyarwanda or English) providing more information about their music training and their contact details. Reach out to Audace, Fidele and Alphonsine to see how they can maybe help you start using music and introduce music sessions to your centre in Rwanda.