Our Romanian Origins

	Romania is a beautiful country of varied landscapes and it offers a wealth of incredible experiences to the intrepid traveller.  However, its political history has left it with a difficult legacy...
Romania hit the news in 1989 when a political Revolution revealed the true extent of the damage done by the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceasescu.  The whole country was affected, but we were particularly shocked by the barbaric way in which Romania's disabled or disadvantaged population had been treated.
It was within this context that Music as Therapy began developing a skill-sharing model to make some of the benefits of music therapy available to children and adults who would not be able to access the services of professional music therapists for the foreseeable future. Over the years we have developed and adapted our work to suit the changing needs of a country passing through waves of reform.
The country continues to move through stages of transition, but the grassroots approach which launched our involvement is becoming less appropriate.  A need for multiple and locally-led initiatives is clearly emerging and the fragmentation is sometimes beyond our resources.  Plus if there is motivation amongst the local workforce to develop their own models of creative arts therapies, our involvement - unless specifically requested -  becomes interference!  Also as a small charity, it is difficult to justify greater investment at the intangible, strategic level (lobbying national authorities, developing local training strategies etc).  We retain a strong commitment to our work in Romania, but feel we are able to scale back our activities there, whilst keeping an active presence, and take on new work.