Sounds of Change in Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and the Netherlands
In recent weeks, we have been active in four very different places:
Lebanon and Jordan, where we delivered a Training of Trainers with a group ready to make a difference themselves. In Gaza, where we continued to support aid workers online under the most challenging of circumstances. In the Netherlands, where we brought the power of music to hundreds people working for the Central Agency for Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA).
LEBANON & JORDAN
Last October and December, we delivered facilitators' training programs in Jordan and Lebanon with two groups, a total of 48 local professionals. That collaboration does not end when the training does. In April and last week, we trained a part of this group to become trainers themselves.
In April, we delivered our second 'Training of Trainers' program of the year in Amman. Sounds of Change trainers Sander and Nour worked together with local trainer Atef Malhas, who led the sessions on the ground with great skill and warmth. Participants came from local partner organisations including Red Noses, Seenaryo and Jesuit Refugee Services, all of whom work closely with children, young people and families affected by displacement.
Last week, it was the third 'Training of Trainers' program this year, and it took place in Tripoli, Lebanon, delivered through a hybrid format that is becoming an increasingly natural way of working for us. Sounds of Change trainers Lucas and Nour joined online from the Netherlands, co-facilitating the training together with local trainer Ali Chaker, who led the exercises, activities and training materials on site and in person. Thanks to the wonderful collaboration with Ali, this was not only possible logistically, but was also warm, energetic and substantively strong.
Participants came from local organisations including Ruwwad al Tanmeya, Amèl Association, Clown me In and a few independent freelancers, who work with a wide range of groups. These groups include children, young people, women, families, people in shelters and people living in marginalised neighbourhoods in and around Tripoli.
Together, these two trainings mean that professionals in both Jordan and Lebanon now have the knowledge, tools and confidence to train their own colleagues in facilitating music and creative interventions, as a means of reducing stress among the people they work with.
What moves us is seeing how these professionals recognise their own growth. One participant wrote afterwards:
"This was not just training; it was truly a space for self-care, reflection, and reconnecting with ourselves. You were much more than a training team, and this experience was far beyond a training program, it was a space filled with humanity, support, kindness, and genuine connection."
This is exactly what our work is about: not just transferring knowledge, but building confidence. Local professionals who inspire, support and train others. So that the methodology continues to live on, even when we are not there.
In the coming months, we will continue to support this group through online sessions, coaching and supervision, as they begin delivering their own first training sessions.
A special thank you to Ali Shaker and Atef Malhas for their dedication, warmth and expertise as our local co-trainers, and to Nour Hanna, who brings that same dedication and warmth to her work as trainer, coordinator of our trainings, and the steady point of contact for everyone we train across the region.
GAZA
Alongside our work in Lebanon, we’ve spent the last few months supporting a group of aid workers, working for a non-profit organisation in Gaza. We did this online, through multi-day training sessions, sharing a practical online toolkit, peer intervision and coaching. People who continue to work under unimaginable circumstances, yet who still find the space to learn, reflect and strengthen one another. The safety of the people we work with always comes first so we'll deliberately share few details here.
However we did not want to leave it unmentioned, because it reflects our aims: being present where the need is greatest, even when that is only possible online.
In the coming weeks, we will facilitate another multi day training. This time for a team working for War Child in Gaza.
THE NETHERLANDS
We are often asked whether Sounds of Change is also active in the Netherlands. The answer is a resounding yes, and in recent months, that has been very tangible.
During several national professional development days organised by the COA (Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers), we showed the power of music to more than 1,000 employees in large plenary sessions. We invited everyone to make music together using Boomwhackers, accessible, playful, and immediately connecting, and let them experience first-hand how much of a positive effect music can have on our psychosocial wellbeing. Connection, activation, non-verbal and creative.
During these same sessions, we also introduced the project Een boek voor jou ('A Book for You’) and the foundation of the same name, both of which are initiatives by Marit Törnqvist. We distributed 1,000 posters with a QR code linking to the song 'Overal en Nergens' ('Everywhere and Nowhere'), based on a beautiful story by Bette Westera which also features in the book. Sounds of Change founder and director Lucas Dols wrote this song together with composer Martin Fondse, and it has now been recorded in ten different languages, including a sing-along version and a mashup of all languages together. Through the poster, (now displayed in every asylum seeker centre in the Netherlands) children can hear and sing along to the song in their own language.
In addition to the plenary sessions, we also delivered seven smaller, in-depth workshops for groups of COA staff, exploring how music and creative methods can be used to reduce stress among residents, build connection, and invite people to create and explore together.
It strikes us every time how universal the need for music interventions is. Whether you're working with children in Tripoli, families in a reception centre in the Netherlands, or young people in a refugee camp. Music and creativity open doors that words sometimes cannot.
Thank you for reading to the end of our 'Stories of Change' newsletter.
We will continue our online and in-person training with local professionals who do important work for people in Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), Jordan,
Lebanon, and Ukraine.
If you would like to support our work with a one-time or monthly financial contribution, we would greatly appreciate it. Sharing our story with others who may be interested also helps us enormously.
With love, warmth and peace,
Sander, Nour, Lucas, Atef, Faris and the rest of the Sounds of Change team
