Music Therapy in Kenya
Introduction
Music therapy as understood in the Western world is at the moment a thing to look forward to in Kenya. Though we have in the last few years created some awareness, at least among colleagues in the music departments of universities in the country, educational programs in music therapy, as well as research into the practice of it, are yet to begin. I therefore hereby refer to music as used in a variety of contexts in what may be termed fold music therapy (Stige 2002).
In Religious Rituals
Relationships between music and traditional healing rituals especially in less technologically advanced societies have been recounted time and again. I will therefore only mention here that having recently made trips to several rural villages, I confirm that the rituals are still surviving in Kenya - though they are being fought through Western religion and education. Because they persist, there is reason for music therapy not to sound so strange to the Kenyans living traditional lifestyles in certain parts of Kenya as I have earlier remarked (Kigunda 2003). But the majority of Kenyans now think this is way too primitive. Some of these Kenyans have joined Christian Pentecostals and Charismatics in their healing procedures that closely parallel the traditional ritual healing described above. Experience of inexplicable cures, dramatic trance, alleged experience of the spirits and gods, and music making are at the very heart of these rituals be it in church or in our traditions.
In Special Education
Apart from traditional contexts, where concerns analogous to that described above are common, new therapeutic and educational contexts also feature music albeit neither in a premeditated manner nor is it done by professionals who identify with music therapy. Special schools are numerous in Kenya even if only a few have used music as one of the instruction and intervention means. In some of the schools music making is in their traditions. However it is not understood by the teachers as a therapy, but merely as an entertainment for leisure time. I met even so a special graduate from one of these schools.
It was at a television show that Muthoni's mother spoke well of her daughters abilities after attending a special school where music was well factored. Music became a medium of expression for Muthomi, a twenty-four year old girl with Down's syndrome. One day lights went off, her mother said at an interview I did with her, and Muthoni sat at the piano to play 'God send the light', a music piece she had learnt. A pianist had been hired to teach Muthoni piano playing. But as Muthoni reproduced piano notes that her teacher played, so did she reproduce tasks her mother showed her. She could make her bed perfectly, put things in their rightful places in the house, and help in other household work. At the television program, her mother had attributed this to her music lessons saying that she was pleased with what music had done for her daughter. It made it possible for Muthoni to be happy like anyone else', she said. I noticed as we spoke that she had some ideas of music therapy, and she said that she was a member of the Down's syndrome Society of Kenya, where, she said, parents with affected children shared useful ideas.
Hospitals in Nairobi
Music is part of the way of life of cancer and HIV/AIDS patients at the Nairobi hospice. And a surgeon at a private hospital in Nairobi said music is used in their surgical theater, though he offered no explanation for its use. He remarked saying: 'it is good.'
At the hospice patients come together once in a week. They pray, sing and play together. No music specialist is invited and no musical instruments. They perform usually gospel songs, said John Njiru, the head nurse who doubles also as administrator. He said that at such a critical moment and in the pain experienced by the patients, suffering both illness and isolation, most people have a strong desire to reconcile with God and die in that peace. He said that music was not an idea the administration had purposely brought up, but the patients' own initiative. Obviously music could play a much better role if its use is worked out systematically here.
The Street Beggar-musicians
Begging has become the only means of survival for some handicapped as well as other people in many towns in Kenya. But as I interviewed some of them recently in Nairobi, I realized that they not only raised some money to live on, but some also developed their ego a good deal. For example I was proudly told by one of them: 'people come and stand here to listen', and such other remarks. In finding passersby stopping to listen to them play guitars, mouth organ, shakers, drums and keyboards while singing by the road side, these people, who are often handicapped and not cared for, felt not only part of the Nairobi, but a valued group. Many of them liked the fact that people were pleased, and this was expressed in the amount of money they earned as well as in verbal remarks.
Challenges and Possible Solutions
Like other developing countries, Kenya is faced with problems in provision of basic healthcare to her population. How can a government employ music therapists if it is incapable of provide drugs for Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS to a big number of people who have to die each day for lack of drugs? I see only few possibilities for music therapy. Either service must at the moment be offered by people who are willing to volunteer part time with minimal payment if any, or non-governmental organizations would employ such professionals. There is an additional option; that of providing services exclusively to an upper class that has little financial problems to worry about.
Training Programs
No university or institution formally offers music therapy courses in Kenya. Kenyatta University is however planning to start a diploma program in music therapy. Indeed there is already an educational program that has been launched through the collaboration of pioneering David Akombo, of Music Therapy International (a Non-governmental Organization he founded) and Kenyatta University. But the university is yet to decide whether to officially start the program. According to Akombo, Music Therapy International aims at developing music therapy in every university in Africa, particularly to provide support to children in refugee camps, and other children in vulnerable circumstances. The organization is growing stronger by the day, while it has been challenged by financial limitations. A number of us are currently studying outside Kenya with particular interests in music therapy. To make music therapy in Africa possible, however, we need to have more of us trained in music therapy. It would be great support for able foreign institutions or governments to sponsor interested students to pursue music therapy. Studies abroad, as we have no courses in almost all African universities, are the only way to go for now, while interested students are not able to raise the required funds for studies outside the country. Any interested sponsor may contact us, and we will be very grateful for such support.
In few years time, it should be possible to find the modern form of music therapy in Kenya.
References
Akombo, D.O., Personal Communication, October, 2005.
Kigunda, B. M. (2004). Music Therapy Canning and the Healing Rituals of Catholic Charismatics in Kenya. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. http://www.voices.no/mainissues/mi40004000163.html
Kigunda, B. M. (2003). Music Therapy: A Therapeutic Force Remains Anonymous in Kenya. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. http://www.voices.no/mainissues/mi40003000126.html
Stige, B. (2002) Culture-Centred Music Therapy. Gilsum: Barcelona Publishers.
How to cite this page
Kigunda, Bernard M. (2005). Music Therapy in Kenya. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=country/monthkenya_november2005
