Last month, Sara came into the office for her work experience to learn more about how Music as Therapy International operates and to give a helping hand to the whole team. It was great to hear that Sara learnt how impactful it is to use music and how significant every generous help we receive has on our activities. Here is what Sara had to say:

“I have always known that I wanted to pursue a career linked to music but I wanted to find out more about ways to make this possible. After doing some research into music therapy, I came across the charity’s website and found out about some of the work the charity does abroad so I decided to get into contact with the charity and hoped I would be able to learn more about how exactly the charity helps people both in the UK and abroad as well as the process of becoming a music therapist.

I did not have much knowledge about how small charities work prior to my work experience as the main charities I had been exposed to were ones in mainstream media or that I had researched myself. This changed as being at the office of Music as Therapy International has taught me a lot in regards to the complex cycle which is needed for each and every introductory project to develop and actually be carried out as well as the heavy workload which the team take on and so impressively manage to balance between them to make the charity function. The reality different from my expectations as I had not put as much thought in the background work which, in actuality, is essential for a charity to run effectively.

From being at Music as Therapy International, I have learnt that teamwork really does the dream work. The team here, as well as carrying out their individual tasks, work tightly together in order to make the charity operate and I have found our that communication is key to ensure project details are shared and coordinated well.

There was so much that had a large impression on me during my experience at Music as Therapy International. If I had to choose one part of the experience, I would say watching the videos of the therapy happening with children who had specific learning disabilities was really touching as I could see the genuine impact music therapy has had with these children, similarly to seeing the images from the Introductory Project in Ethiopia, where I am from.

I would really like to encourage people to make any donation they can. No matter how small, donations add up and £5 can pay for one musical instrument which could help a child with learning difficulties express themselves in a way they otherwise would be unable to. Donations genuinely do make a charity, no matter how small so, to anyone considering giving, I would say to please give anything you can as it may not seem like a lot, but really does play a big part in helping better someone else’s life through music.

My experience here at Music as Therapy International has definitiely exceeded my expectation. I would like to use this opportunity to spread awareness about music therapy now that I feel I have learnt a lot about how impactful it can be. In terms of building on my work experience, I would now like to go on study music at university, studying modules including performance, composition and music therapy. Also, I would love to take a gap year to partake in music therapy volunteer work or potentionally find more music therapy placements whilst at school.”

Whilst on her work experience, Sara was given a task to process donated CDs on Music Magpie for us to turn into cash, which can go towards our project. Volunteering her time to help with the task allowed us to raise £5.93. It’s great to know Sara’s help allowed us to gain £5. Thank you Sara and thank you to those who have donated the CDs!