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In the summer of 2013 before my senior year of undergraduate studies, I traveled to the rural parish of Portland, Jamaica for an intensive music therapy practicum experience. I participated in the Jamaica Field Service Project, a service learning program for university students that serves the local Jamaican community. I was in Jamaica for eleven days, five of which were spent providing music therapy services in a special education school, an infirmary, and a homeless center under the direct supervision of an AMTA board-certified music therapist.
Before the trip, I received extensive training materials to prepare me for the work I would be doing, including a list of cultural songs to learn and memorize, readings, and music playlists. Upon my arrival to Jamaica, we began training and planning for the work week ahead with our MT-BC supervisors. Over the course of the five days that we were working in these clinical settings, I gained more music therapy experience than almost all of my previous practicum experiences combined. There were sometimes language barriers and definitely cultural differences that initially set the students and the clients apart, but as soon as the music started, everyone’s experiences merged and we were able to connect and do meaningful work. Seeing and experiencing music in different, but mostly similar ways reminds us that music is universal; that it has a unique power and meaning all over the world and that the work we do also holds that meaning.
This experience had such an impact on me that since 2013, I have been back to Jamaica two times with the Jamaica Field Service Project as a music therapy supervisor, training and supervising students from all over the world.
Allison Echard, MT-BC
North America
November 2017
