NEPAL

OUR WORK

The Music Therapy Trust was successful in introducing the first clinical music therapy to Nepal.


Music Therapy with Kedar Gandhari

Nepalese musician, Mr Kedar Gandhari, trained in New Delhi with The Music Therapy Trust for the Postgraduate Diploma in Music Therapy. His training was sponsored by a benefactor from the Ealing Kathmandu Friendship Association UK. Mr Gandhari qualified in December 2009 and has now returned to Nepal to set up the first clinical music therapy there in partnership with Autism Care Nepal. Autism Care Nepal sees music therapy to be an integral part of their work with children and The Music Therapy Trust is joining them in this unique development.

Kedar belongs to the Gandharba community, one of the traditional musical castes of Nepal. He previously worked as a street musician in Kathmandu and taught traditional folk instruments, such as Sarangi and Drum. As a volunteer he taught drumming to street children in Thamel, Kathmandu to help rehabilitate them by the means of music. Now that he has qualified, Kedar is using his skills and experience to provide music therapy to autistic children at Autism Care Nepal and to the wider community of Nepal.

In order to spread music therapy to more children in Nepal, Mr Gandhari will also train other special educators in modified music therapy and they in turn will then be able to help hundreds of disadvantaged and disabled children throughout Nepal.

The Ealing Kathmandu Friendship Association UK is committed to supporting Kedar’s work and in 2010 raised funds to contribute to the success of the project. Members of the Association visited Autism Care Nepal in 2010 to provide training workshops and gather information and evidence of the effectiveness of music therapy at ACN.

AUTISM CARE NEPAL

 Autism Care Nepal (ACN) is a small organisation founded in April 2008 by a group of parents of autistic children. Their aim is to provide information and support for families with an autistic child. There is very little awareness of autism in Nepal, a lack of medical expertise means children are rarely diagnosed, there are no specialised teachers, therapy or support and society is not willing to accept children with autism. Most are left undiagnosed, and will end up in a mental institute or be hidden in the house away from the social world.


Working with Children at Autism Care Nepal

Due to the lack of diagnosis there are no reliable figures, but Autism Care Nepal estimates that there are between 10,000 to 50,000 autistic people in Nepal.

Autism Care Nepal wants to educate, raise awareness and act for the rights of autistic children throughout Nepal. They are working to improve diagnosis, provide information and therapies and are running specialised behavioral and educational programmes for children to develop social skills, speech and language skills and life skills. Music therapy is a vital part of this work.

Music therapy helps autistic children to:

• Express themselves
• Build relationships with the therapist, parents, carers and others
• Improve communication skills — some speak for the first time
• Relieve tension and anxiety
• Develop self-awareness, confidence & creativit