It’s a chilly winter day. You’re bundled up in entrance of your laptop, sipping on a steaming cup of espresso when an commercial for service work pops up. You see this tanned music therapist smiling at a younger baby as they strum a guitar. The advert is crammed with vivid colours and palm timber. You possibly can envision your self there, taking part in guitar with children throughout the day and sipping on a fruity cocktail on the seaside within the night. What might be higher than touring to a tropical location and sharing your abilities as a music therapist? It’s a trip and a music remedy studying expertise all wrapped up into one.
After I was a sophomore, I made the great resolution to take part within the Jamaican Subject Service Undertaking (JAFSP). I had all the time needed to review overseas. I really like heat, tropical climates and being on the seaside. And, like many music therapists, I selected to enter this occupation to assist others. JAFSP provided it all- a examine overseas expertise in a fantastic place that might look nice on my resume. These 10 days in Jamaica had been an incredible, life-changing expertise for me. I beloved studying from and networking with music remedy college students and professionals from throughout the nation. We discovered conventional drumming patterns and Jamaican people music. I turned way more assured in my group main skills. I grew as a music remedy scholar. I beloved my expertise a lot that I participated within the JAFSP the next summer season.
This looks like a stellar overview, proper? Effectively, sure and no. I personally imagine that the JAFSP is a superb group, however upon reflection I notice that my motivations for collaborating had been questionable. As music therapists and future music therapists, we have now an moral accountability to prioritize the wants of our shoppers. I notice now that my priorities had been fully about my wants – to develop as a music therapist, to community, to have a pleasant trip, to study a brand new tradition, and many others. My shoppers’ wants had been a regrettable afterthought. Fortuitously, JAFSP requires college students to be taught concerning the tradition and music earlier than partaking with the native inhabitants and hires skilled music therapists to oversee college students and professionals all through the journey.
My objective is to not criticize JAFSP or different music remedy service initiatives, however to problem anybody keen on collaborating in such initiatives to embark in thorough self-reflection. Analysis has proven that the volunteer tourism business could cause unfavourable and dangerous results on native communities if volunteers will not be working in a respectful and accountable style. In case your priorities (like mine) focus totally on self-growth and delight, I problem you to contemplate how your participation will have an effect on the area people. We have to hunt down studying alternatives, however we can’t achieve this on the expense of our shoppers.
Outdoors of the music remedy neighborhood, the voluntourism business has come beneath fireplace. In the event you do a short google search, you can find many articles calling volunteer tourism into query due to the moral points posed by these journeys. Sadly, some organizations prioritize the wants and needs of their customers (the volunteers) over the wants of the native inhabitants. The volunteer tourism business has additionally been criticized for putting volunteers into positions of energy, recreating colonial hierarchies and undermining the native inhabitants (Luh Sin, 2008). These are all very related factors that must be explored earlier than collaborating in any music remedy or different volunteer service journey. In truth, it’s possible you’ll determine that volunteer service journeys will not be for you – and that’s okay too!
In the event you do determine to take part in a service journey this summer season, do your analysis and select a company that prioritizes the neighborhood’s wants. Don’t be afraid to succeed in out to worldwide music therapists to inquire about moral issues. Put together your self by studying culturally related music. Most significantly, replicate by yourself motivations and actively search supervision all through the method to guard your shoppers and meet their wants.