Music Therapy Community Clinic

The Music Therapy Community Clinic (MTCC) was founded in 2002 to provide music therapy to children from disadvantaged communities as a means of psychological and social support. The children helped by the MTCC are dealing with trauma associated with living on the Cape Flats. The trauma includes violence, abuse, gangsterism and drugs as well as issues related to HIV and AIDS and long-term hospitalisation. Breadline Africa has been funding the Music Therapy Community Clinic since 2005.

"Music therapy is the use of sounds and music within an evolving relationship between client and therapist to support and encourage physical, mental, social and emotional well-being."

Music Therapy: An Art Beyond Words by Leslie Bunt

MTCC Projects

The project works with groups and individuals in various communities around Cape Town. Currently, the MTCC runs 5 projects:

• Heideveld Project: This project offers individual and group therapy sessions to children from Heideveld and the surrounding communities. The music therapy sessions provide a creative and non-verbal means of expressing difficult emotions associated with violence and abuse, and so facilitate the healing process.
• Siyaphila Project: This is an HIV/AIDS support project and works with two children's centres in the Cape Flats. Music therapy sessions offer the children an opportunity to participate in age appropriate activities and attend to some of their psycho social needs by integrating and validating their healthy and capable sense of self.
• Music for Life Project: This project provides children with an opportunity to participate in after-school music activities within their communities. Options include a choir, drumming circles, marimbas and hip hop/rap workshops. This project includes an annual camp where learners are taken away for a weekend.
• Music for Health Project:This project offers music therapy groups and individual sessions to children that are between the ages of 0 and 16 years and require long term hospitalisation.
• Community Music Training Project:The aim of the project is to teach community workers to use music as a resource that can heal and strengthen communities.

In 2007, the MTCC reached 672 children whose lives had been traumatised by violence, gangsterism, abuse or illness. Whether at schools, hospitals or children's centres, this project is making a major difference in the life of children in the Cape Flats.

With your support, Breadline Africa and the MTCC can reach even more children this year. Make a donation to support this and other projects.