Tag: ESCAPE GLOBAL

T R A N S I T I O N

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Transitions are beautiful yet they come with new challenges that are surmountable.
Last week when I wrote about sharing music with caregivers, I sort of knew deep within me that it was going to be my last time in the Paediatric ward of the hospital but didn’t know how it was going to happen.


The next time following the period that I did my last post on Caregivers (by the way if you’ve not read it, it’d be good to ‘cos it’s an enriching read).
To my story, the matron on duty gave me a warm welcome and took me to this new ward which was also Paediatric but this time for Emergency cases, there were a number of babies and as she introduced me to the nurse on duty, I was all there smiling and thinking of how to engage babies in Music but nothing was coming. In that moment, the only thing I knew to do was to jump into the waves.

I walked up to the bedside of this baby boy who was 4 months old, his mum was obviously perturbed and worse of all you could tell that having her baby in the hospital was not just her only problem, she seemed to shoulder a lot yet trying to be sane through it.
For some minutes I engaged her in a discussion, she told me of how her baby started teething, had been coughing, running temperature and hasn’t been eating. I was really emotional in this moment, I was on my feet still thinking of what to do when the nurse on duty came to tell the mother that she should get her baby milk so he could eat that was when I knew that her breasts hadn’t been bringing forth milk. I felt for her deeply, she was up and about leaving the baby and his sister with me, so I was left alone to share music with them.


Hmmmm I began singing because of course I couldn’t engage the baby, I just sang while he cried and was yet in pain.
I sang these words I shared today in my video, you can watch the video on Instagram: @escape_global.
These were the lyrics;
Peace through it all
Joy through it all
Hope through it all
You are never alone.
Peace through it all.

I sang this song repetitively for about 30 minutes or more and I couldn’t see visible improvement, maybe only the fact that it lessened his tears. I yet continued singing it over him.

I’m not one to easily give up when it comes to this but I came to a conclusion that the music I did lightened the burden that was in the atmosphere and it also made me accept the challenge of thinking unique approach to be used in administering music to babies in the hospital.

Over the next few weeks, I’d be in this ward so I’d unearth golden lessons that would be useful in Music Therapy administration with babies.

This is the #DiaryofanAspiringMusicTherapist Episode 6

I never get bored reading your feedbacks ❤️

S I M P L E

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This time around they were two girls who were sisters and I can tell you they stole my heart from the very
minute I stepped to their bedside; One because they are actually beautiful and two because they had the best
smiles that was therapeutic for me. For me, there is a way smile speaks of acceptance even before saying or
doing anything.


Just before I continue with the tale of my time with these lovelies, I had earlier entered into the Paediatrics
Ward and it felt like I had become extra popular because all i was hearing was ‘Aunty Welcome’, ‘Aunty
Welldone, you are here again’. I could read the thoughts of those whose kids were newly admitted, they had
this face that said who is this lady with the guitar, what is she here to do. To further confirm that I was no
strange face in the ward, the nurse on duty who I am very familiar with was so glad to see me. I legit felt like a
regular customer but it was really heart-warming because it was beginning to make sense to them that what I
do is so needed in the healthcare.


Back to my tale, the girls were staring at me with a blush that said we are so shy to talk with this aunty but we’ll love it if she
talks with us. I took my seat and began conversing with them, the eldest amongst them was the one who was ill
and her sister had been with her to keep her company. They were my first Muslim patients so I initially cringed
because I understand their general belief system about Music.


Well this didn’t stop me; I had beautiful conversation with them about Health, life, school, Music and so on. I
listened more than I talked; we conversed as if we had known each other for long. During the course of our
conversation, I picked one thing and it’s the fact that their hearts were so simple, no airs and worries just living
life as it comes. I think the conversation changed me more because here was I worried about their would be
response to music but here they just loved it that they can converse with someone other than their family
members.


Close to the end of my session with them, these girls sang their best nursery rhymes, I learnt their native dialect, we sang together on the guitar
and it was so beautiful. This taught me two things, one you do not assume for a patient until you have made the
bold step to ask or try.

Two, prioritize care over cure when administering music to patients, sometimes we are
so concerned about the outcome than what happens in the process. It is not always about fixing the problem
and seeing a desired outcome, it is sometimes about bonding, the memory that lingers via conversation.
Remember, this is a compendium of lessons learnt, miracles of music in the hospital as an Aspiring Music
Therapist.


This is the #DiaryofAnAspiringMusicTherapist Episode 4.
Kindly drop your comments and feedback, I always love reading from you!❤️

Amazing News!

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I think Amazing is my best word, I use it always and I enjoy using it. Anyway that is not even the gist! I’m so excited it’s a new year and a new decade at that. I have honestly looked forward to this year for a very long time and I am excited that we get to see it together.

I ended 2019 with reading a book by an all time favourite Music Therapist, Dr Deforia Lane and it has spurred me like never before to take conscious leaps in the field of Music Therapy.

This year I am committing myself to sharing my journey in the hospital with you as an Aspiring Music Therapist, it is tagged #TheDiaryofAnAspiringMusicTherapist.

Every moment in the hospital ward is filled with stories of pain, hope, much thinking and joy to patients and families of patients at the sound of music. You don’t want to miss these stories.

For every moment I get to administer music as a form of therapy to Patients in the hospital, I promise to share with you which is inclusive of the ugly moments too.

This year I joined the Arts in Medicine Fellowship which is targeted at encouraging the use of arts in Healthcare, I love this fellowship because I am constantly inspired to be better!

Every moment on this journey is a Miracle.

I can tell this is going to be fun already!

Happy New Decade! I love reading from You.

WHY MUSIC THERAPY?

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I ask myself this question every time, today again I’m still asking myself same question only that I’m taken down memory lane this time around.

In 2013 while seated in a class, we had just resumed into the university and the fire to have an amazing CGPA was burning in us, well maybe not everyone but I was burning with that fire to do better than I have done all my life.

We had this course MUS 101 this very day and it had to do with the introduction to Music, I was so eager to learn because I knew no Jack in music except singing. While my lecturer was lecturing on the different kinds of music, she got to the therapeutic side of music and mentioned that this kind of music can affect the mood of a person, it can make you sober, hyper and can even make a person decide to commit murder.

In my mind I’m like are you for real? Then the interest started, I felt I had found something different that I could do with music other than organise concerts, sing in a choir, go for shows, release an album and what have you but sorry to disappoint you it only took a little while, the fire died😣.


Fast forward to my 300 level 2nd semester I began thinking frantically about what my project topic will be, I wasn’t jelled by the usual and I wanted something that I’d enjoy doing and wouldn’t feel like a burden to me.
This day I was in my aunt’s place and for no reason I passed by on a scene they were seeing on African Magic and this guy was just talking about the potency of music in the healing of Psychiatric Patients. Boom! That was it, I found it and went ahead to write my options to the department and fortunately for me I got it.


I was going to be working on the Effect of Music Therapy on Psychiatric Patients using Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba as case study.
My story is getting too long, maybe I should leave your mind to wonder what happened next and how I was able to manage Psychiatric Patients…

Catch you in the next blog post…