Voices ResourcesA website for the worldwide community around the journal Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy

Where in the world is Antigua and Barbuda?

Antigua and Barbuda is a small country in the Caribbean with a population of approximately 74 000 people. Most Antiguans are of African lineage, brought here during the 18th century to work on the sugarcane fields. The country gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1981, but still remains a part of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is made up of two main islands, Antigua, the larger of the two (14 miles long and 11 miles wide) which holds most of the population and where music therapy is located and Barbuda, a smaller flat coral island. (Map, see: World Atlas. from www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/caribb/ag.htm)

Role of Music on the Island of Antigua

Music is an important part of Antigua’s culture. At every age, people here are influenced by music and many are involved in creating music; singing, playing keyboard and steel pan by ear. It is guaranteed that if there is music within hearing distance, you will find a group or individuals dancing or singing along. While at the local volleyball games you can count on seeing a group of teenage boys standing around showing off their newest dance moves to local soca or calypso music. Steel pan and brass bands spend the year practicing for Carnival, a week in the summer dedicated to celebrating music and dance.

The Beginning of Music Therapy in Antigua

Music therapy is a new to the island of Antigua. It was introduced in August 2010 by my colleague and I. We were hired by a private school near St. John’s to do music therapy, develop a special needs program, and teach music classes. The Principal of the school felt that “music therapy [would] offer an alternative which would touch the lives of autistic and developmentally delayed children, as well as giving an outlet for gifted children to express themselves.” Music therapy has now become an integral part of the school, not only used with students enrolled in our special needs program, but also for students who have troubled home lives that affect their behaviours and progress at school.

Clients and Work

We have a vast variety of needs within our small school. Our music therapy clients currently consist of students with intellectual and physical delays including, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome, speech impairments, and those who have emotional needs as well.

Living on a small island has its privileges and disadvantages. One of these disadvantages is that resources are limited. Therefore, we often have to consider that if a child involved in music therapy has a need that is not being met in music therapy sessions or in school, the need will not be met elsewhere. There is only one speech therapist on the island and often people are referred to our music therapy services with the intention of focusing on speech goals. When working with clients who have physical limitations, we often form goals around physical movement, muscle strength, and balance because most of our clients are not involved in occupational or physical therapy to develop fine and gross motor skills.

In Antigua, our role as music therapists involves a lot more than just doing music therapy. The island and school are small so we cannot escape being a part of many aspects of our clients’ daily lives including; their social lives, academic education as well as being educators to parents and the community at large. During a trip to town it is not uncommon to see our students and their families on the streets walking around or to attend the same events around the island. It is not considered unprofessional to have lunch together on Sunday after church or to have afternoon tea or coffee. This is the nature of the culture here and the difference in professional and personal life is almost indistinguishable.

Education within this community is a process of sharing our knowledge as well as my colleague and I gaining awareness of the cultural differences in Antigua. Our intention has been to help families to know what music therapy is and how it can be used to help different client groups, and also to understand more about the potential of kids who are “different.” If a child is unable to learn or assimilate into the mainstream education there are few options for them in Antigua. Many children stay in preschool or at home. One autistic boy who came to be in our program was 14 years old and had previously only been in a preschool. This year our energy has primarily been focused on building the special needs program at the school, but next year we hope to expand music therapy further in the community and to continue to raise awareness about the potential of individuals with special needs. We also have to continue to educate ourselves in the various musical and social differences of this culture and adjust our methods accordingly. Already we have assimilated some aspects of island into our lives such as staple foods like rice and peas and fresh local fruits like mangos and using a few local dialect terms and phrases when speaking. Attending some of the concerts leading up to this year’s carnival continued to expand my knowledge of the music styles, soca, calypso, and steel pan, that are enjoyed by people of every age in Antigua. Each experience contributes to our learning and understanding which guides our music therapy and education approach.

Reflections and Future

I have a mental picture of “music therapy” where the clients and music therapist are in a spacious (but not too big) room, with a tuned piano, a beautiful xylophone, a snare drum that has both a top and a bottom skin, and a cupboard full of other instrument options if needed. Only those who are involved in the therapy are able to enter the room during the session to ensure complete privacy and confidentiality for the client and to create the safest space possible for whatever the client may bring to the session. This picture of what I thought music therapy should look like has not come to life since being in Antigua and has caused me to reflect on and revaluate my ideas of what can be defined as music therapy and the approach to my work. My values and experiences guide my approach and methods but in this new situation there are other factors to consider that challenge these. When I have a session in the school park or swimming pool, do these open spaces take away safety in music therapy? If other children enter the music therapy room and want to join in the music making because they heard the music through the sliding glass door and windows that need to stay open for ventilation, is it breaking confidentiality boundaries that I have been immersed in while living in Canada? Looking at answers to questions like these and considering Jocelyn’s and my role as music therapists in this country leads me to suggest that music therapy in Antigua is taking on a community approach.

In Community Music Therapy, Ansdell and Pavilicevic breakdown the concept of community presented in the book into three main ideas. The first idea where a “community” can be seen as “the wider discourse on social identity and political policy” reflects our involvement in educating the parents and community about the potential of children with special needs (Ansdell & Pavlicevic, 2004, p. 26). We try to encourage people to see what the children CAN do in and out of music therapy so that they can feel comfortable taking the child outside of their home and giving them opportunities to experience different areas of life.

In Antigua, the people embrace “island time” which can mean a person arrives two hours after the arranged time or not at all. Adapting to the cultural difference in timing and privacy reflects the second idea of music therapy working with a community rather than just bringing music therapy into a community. We are not only offering music therapy but we are providing opportunities for children who have special needs and very little options for education or therapies that will help them achieve their potential. Their needs are being met not only academically but also socially, physically, and emotionally. By adjusting our expectations of timing and arrangements to suit the culture of the people of the Island, we are attempting to adapt to the community.

The third idea in the term community is connections. Connections that have occurred in Antigua because of the music therapy and special needs program are vast and continuing to grow. Through music making there have been connections formed both within and outside our school. Examples of connections within our school are between the special needs students and other students, parents and their children, students and nature, and church and students. By gathering volunteers to work with our special needs children and having music programs for those outside of our school, relationships are being created between the larger communities. Outside of school, music has allowed us to connect with other musicians, and has even led to Jocelyn playing shows with several local artists. This past year we introduced a masterclass program where higher level musicians can play for each other and receive and give critiques. This allowed us to develop connections with other musicians and share our different musical knowledge and backgrounds with each other. These are just a few examples of the micro and macro connections in Antigua.

Developing a music therapy/special needs program involves many hours of planning, preparation, and action. The support received from the staff at the school and parents of our clients helps encourage me to continue to work on improving the program. Music therapy awareness and education for the community will remain a focus in my work in Antigua. Although I look back on the year and can see many areas that need improvement for the program, I am able to look forward with excitement and enthusiasm for the upcoming year to implement changes to improve the program, to continue my understanding and sharing with this community and also to continue to see progress with clients.

Reference

Ansdell, G. & Pavlicevic, M.(Eds.) (2004). Community Music Therapy. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

InterKnowledge Corp (n.d.). Antigua and Barbuda. Retrieved from http://www.antigua-barbuda.org/index.htm

Worldatlas.com (n.d.). Map of Antigua and Barbuda. Retrieved from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/caribb/ag.htm

About the Therapists

Jocelyn Beldman and I received our music therapy education in Canada at Wilfrid Laurier University and graduated in April 2010. Currently we are both completing our MTA internship hours under the supervision of Amy Clements-Cortes.

I became aware of the opportunity in Antigua while still in school. I had been talking about trying to find an internship placement in a different country for several months and my placement supervisor, Hannah You, informed me of the position and encouraged me to apply. Having lived in Ontario, Canada my entire life, the thought of moving to an island in the Caribbean seemed like quite the adventure. Adjusting to the different culture and climate has indeed proved to be an adventure and a constantly challenging and growing experience.
After Jocelyn Beldman graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University, she immediately wanted to further her education and qualifications with experience. However, she was unsure of which city to stay in as internship placements are hard to find in her home town of London, Ontario. When she got the phone call asking to come in for an interview, she thought, "I would never go to the Caribbean being such a homebody!” When she was offered the position working as a music therapist where she could achieve her internship hours, everything changed. Not knowing what to expect, but feeling confident, she flew to Antigua and Barbuda where her experience has changed her like no other experience has. The change from being in a culture where her role in a child with special needs' life is only a small to being the only professional support they might have, has opened her eyes to the great needs in Antigua.

How to cite this page

Kowaleski, Julia Beth (2011). Music Therapy in Antigua and Barbuda: Two Music Therapists, One Small Island. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 08, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=country-of-the-month/2011-music-therapy-antigua-and-barbuda-two-music-therapists-one-small-island