.jpg)
This past summer ten music therapy students and young professionals from the New England Region in the U.S.A. embarked on a service trip to Grand Cayman under the leadership of NER-AMTAS Vice President, Julianne Parolisi, and regional student advisor, Christine Routhier.Most people associate the Cayman Islands with beaches, cruises, etc. However, individuals with mental or physical disabilities constitute an under-served sector of the population that would greatly benefit from an introduction to music therapy. We were fortunate enough to introduce music therapy to this culturally diverse yet under-served population who would greatly benefit from music therapy. Our two main goals that we had in mind were to introduce the Cayman Islands to the field of music therapy both through leading sessions and through in-service presentations and to offer music therapy students the opportunity to expand their skills and gain multicultural awareness through direct engagement with an ethnically diverse population.
Our team was divided into three groups – the first of which worked with toddlers in the Cayman Islands Early Intervention Program, the second worked at The Lighthouse School with children with special needs, and the third group worked with adults with developmental disabilities at the Sunrise Adult Training Centre. At all three locations, we gave in-service presentations and we introduced musical activities to the groups with therapeutic goals in mind so that the staff could see the effectiveness of music in these populations and hopefully start a music therapy program.
The Special Olympic Games were held the same week as our visit so we had the opportunity to sing this song at the closing ceremony of the Special Olympic Games. Many of the members from Sunrise were involved in the Olympics so we had them go on stage with us to play and sing along. They felt honored and proud to be up there and they helped fill the room with joy. It was the perfect way of ending the week.
Before leaving, we left all of our sites with instruments, which were generously donated by MudPie Productions. This project left Grand Cayman wanting more of music therapy that Julianne is now starting a business of her own to bring full time music therapy service to the island—Cayman Music Therapy. To learn more about our trip visit: http://teamcayman2010.yolasite.com.
Team Cayman 2010Georgia Wells, Racheal Lewis, Jessica Brizuela, Laurynn Scholar, Mike Simonelli, Elaina Daoulas, Eddie Konopasek, April Buscher, Berklee College of Music Students (Boston, MA, USA)Erin Murphy, MA, MT-BC and Julianne Parolisi, MA, MT-BC, Lesley University Graduates (Cambridge, MA, USA)
