Music for Refugees with Betsy Blakeslee

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Betsy Blakeslee’s work has connected refugees with the healing power of music for two decades. She directed expressive arts programs for refugee youth in Bosnia and Croatia during the wars of the 1990s. Since 2016, her Expressive Arts Refuge team and Moira Smiley have been running similar programs at refugee camps in France, Greece, and Lebanon.

In this episode she shares stories of how her experiences as a volunteer have touched the lives of Sudanese and Syrian children. She talks about how expressive arts- music and body percussion touch and shift traumatic experiences, especially for those fleeing war and violence. Betsy gives us before and after stories, a demo (with me) of music and body movements she teaches, as well as how brain science is truly behind why music creates belonging and connection among people. Betsy Blakeslee is the co-author on forthcoming book about the Calais Jungle refugee camp in Calais, France. 

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