New project in Palestine

Thanks to a grant provided by Oxfam-Novib, MwB is now in a position to develop a new project for children in Palestine. The objective is to use music to help children survive and thrive in the face of terribly difficult conditions. The successful projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina – The Music Bus and summer camps – will serve as models for these new ventures.

MwB searches for Palestinian musicians
A Bosnian/Dutch MwB team visited the West Bank in November and met with Palestinian musicians and cultural organizations. They visited refugee camps, cultural centers and local organizations involved in the wellbeing of children in East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron and Nablus.

Amir Bašic, project leader for the Music Bus, enchanted large groups of Palestinian children with workshops in ‘body percussion’ – making music with only hands, voice and body. The other members of the team were MwB trainer Anne Affourtit, MwB BiH director R. Baya Corlija, MwB director Laura Hassler and composer/musician Merlijn Twaalfhoven.

Music program for children
We are now developing proposals to be to Oxfam-Novib for a 3 year collaboration that will add a community music program to the current range of cultural activities for children in Palestine.