“Music and Resilience”

Orientation for the 2nd year of International Cooperation

On Friday 9th January 2015 in the Town hall, Montespertoli, the guidelines for the 2nd year of Prima Materia’s project “Music and Resilience” were illustrated to the public, who were able to witness how international cooperation enriches the proponent communities as much, if not more than the ‘beneficiaries’.

Mohamad Orabi, the first qualified psychologist amongst the Palestinian refugees of Lebanon, who covers a supervising role within the music therapy team of the National Institution for Social Care and Vocational Training “Beit Atfal Assumoud”, illustrated the benefits of music therapy in critical life situations such as that of the refugee camps. The presentation was highlighted by the performance of Arabic music by 10 teenaged students of Prima Materia who have participated on the project’s exchanges during the past 2 years. Speeches were also made by Stefano Fusi, promoter of the project for the Province of Florence, and Montespertoli’s mayor, Giulio Mangani.

The council’s adviser for International Cooperation, Elena Ammirabile, commented: “this type of project, which allows young people to receive care from others who come from afar and to experience working together through music, is quite clearly an ‘anti-terrorism’ therapy. The local administration of Montespertoli firmly believes that cooperation and inclusive political strategy in Italy represent the only antidotes against acts of violence such as those recently witnessed in France”.