In January 2016, the nonprofit MusicXChange, founded by Berklee student Federico Masetti, organized a two-week service trip to Ghana to build strategic partnerships and raise awareness about the organization. The following post was written by Apiwe Bubu, one of the trip’s participants. Read a post by fellow participant Ellie Foster.
By Apiwe Bubu
Suffice to say, January 8 in Kumasi, Ghana, was an incredible day. We awoke to chase yet more productive meetings and encounters with Ghanaian kin and professionals, and our first stop was our meeting with Dr. Thomas Poku. He is the personal doctor of the Ashanti king, and someone well versed in the medical and health world. Given that the king himself entrusts Dr. Poku with his health shows that this is a man with good credibility and ability. It was good to hear him vocalize his support for the MusicXChange initiative and introducing music therapy in Ghana. What I did find interesting was his job at the hospital where he explained how he at times used music to calm his patients and sometimes break some devastating news to them, such as diagnoses of HIV or AIDS.
