Finding Healing Through Music: First Steps at The Hands Up Project

We’re excited to tell you that we now have a trained music therapist from Gaza, Beker, working with our children in Cairo. This is Beker’s post about his first day at the Cairo space……

On my way to the first meeting with the children in The Hands Up Project, I spent the entire two-hour journey thinking about what the first session would be like. I wondered about their level of psychological well-being, their mental and behavioral health, and how the first encounter with the adolescents would feel.

The first session began with two groups. They were all enthusiastic about musical instruments, playing them, and learning more about music. However, after years of war, displacement, and instability, the children’s interactions had changed. It was as if they were searching for a lifeline somewhere deep inside themselves, without even asking for it.

What children truly need is a safe space that helps them grow and achieve self-realization. Music can help them do this by allowing them to discover themselves, express what lies deep within them, and heal the broken pieces in their thoughts and hearts.

Therefore, music therapy sessions will serve as a safe form of healing, giving children the space to express themselves, learn, explore, and modify behaviors and distorted thoughts caused by war. This is achieved by reducing the intensity of the trauma they have experienced, helping them adapt to the new reality, and equipping them with skills that support survival and the restoration of psychological balance. Donate to the school