The Community Music Worker Project is a training programme developed by Crea Thera International and LOYAC Lebanon, grounded in the missions of both organizations.

LOYAC Lebanon empowers youth and provides opportunities that foster personal, professional, and community growth. The organization equips young people with skills, confidence, and leadership capacities, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to their communities and to social justice and peace.

Crea Thera International works to promote healing, emotional expression, and resilience through arts and music-based therapeutic interventions. The organization emphasizes creative, culturally sensitive approaches that enable communities and professionals to address psychosocial needs effectively.

Since its launch in July 2023, the programme has been organized four times, including sessions in 2024, training approximately 80 participants.

Each training cycle brings together around 20 professionals from the Lebanese NGO sector and related fields. Over an intensive two‑week period, participants learn basic music therapy techniques to support psychosocial work with children aged 6 to 12.

The training is grounded in principles of Community Music Therapy and tailored to local cultural, social, and institutional contexts. While it includes theoretical input, the emphasis is on active learning: participants engage directly in music‑based therapeutic activities, creating and experiencing music as part of the process.

Through accessible, low‑threshold music activities, trainees learn to strengthen communities and foster self‑confidence, safety, group cohesion, self-awareness, resilience, and competence. The programme emphasizes empowerment and preventive support rather than clinical trauma therapy.

Training is delivered by music therapists Thomas Deleu (Belgium), with extensive experience in post‑conflict and refugee contexts, and Mia Bteich (Lebanon), specialized in music therapy for children.

Afterward, participants apply their skills in professional contexts such as NGOs, healthcare settings, and education. In collaboration with LOYAC, trainees have facilitated music sessions with Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley and with Lebanese communities in the suburbs of Beirut. This implementation extends the project’s impact into diverse and vulnerable communities, reflecting LOYAC’s commitment to youth empowerment and community cohesion and Crea Thera’s focus on healing through creative, music-based interventions.

“I See You” is a music theatre project for a group of 20 young participants aged 10 to 25, selected from different suburbs of Beirut. The project brings together youth from diverse ethnic and social backgrounds to express their emotions, share personal experiences, and collaboratively create a performance to present to the public.

Led by drama coach Angela Khalil, participants develop their own scenes based on lived experiences through guided workshops. In parallel, music therapists Thomas Deleu and Mia Bteich support the group in creating original songs and soundscapes that form an integral part of the performance.

Since 2022, four project cycles have been completed. The first two focused on the Beirut explosion and its aftermath, exploring how it affected the lives of these young people. The most recent projects address the impact of ongoing conflict in Lebanon, offering space for reflection on current challenges faced by youth.

The project aims to provide a safe environment where sensitive themes can be explored openly. It empowers participants to transform personal stories into artistic expression while fostering connection, resilience, and collective creation. At the same time, it seeks to engage and empower audiences—including families, friends, partners, and representatives from embassies—by inviting them into these shared experiences.

The latest editions resulted in more developed performances, presented publicly at Théâtre Elysee in Achrafieh, Beirut.

LOYAC has been a steady partner throughout the process, supporting the development and continuity of the project. In addition, the initiative includes an in-service training component, where participants are mentored in theatre-making and music creation, helping build local capacity for future artistic projects.

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