FEATURE
" My musical career was something that I was thinking about as a possible choice , but I believe that I get more energy from 20 of my Butterflies than some famous rock star from
20 thousand fans ."
Toni Pesikan
Several years later , Pesikan met Professor Nigel Osborn , a famous British composer . " He is an inspiring person who was visiting Bosnia even during the war , risking his own life to help the children . He taught me a lot about drums and musical therapy . Since he was the professor at the Edinburg university , he helped me get there and graduate on Musical therapy course ."
Helping children instead of becoming a music star
As someone who is familiar with the musical scene in Bosnia , Pesikan had numerous opportunities to become a member of famous musician bands , but instead of all of those offers , he chooses to play for his " Butterflies ", as he calls children in the organization . " I even had the opportunity to stay in the UK and work there , but I have chosen to get back here in Bosnia to give real purpose to my knowledge , skills , and talent . My musical career was something that I was thinking about as a possible choice , but I believe that I get more energy from 20 of my Butterflies than some famous rock star from 20 thousand fans . Energy is all about . As we already prove that through the energy of music we can makes feel better , at the same time I got a huge amount of energy when I see some movements at some of those children that they have never done before ," said Pesikan who explained that musical therapy has several benefits for children with disabilities . " While they
Image : Pesikan pictured with African Drums , one of the many instruments used by the Butterfly class . are playing , they are working significant physical movements , and through some time , they managed to develop some parts of their bodies . While they are singing , they are developing their speech too ." Since musical therapy is not a well-paid job in Bosnia , Pesikan has to work other full-time jobs . After work , he travels from Sarajevo to Srebrenica to work with the children at Butterfly . " I do not get tired . You cannot easily become tired if you work something that you really love ." said Pesikan . Musical therapy often is underestimated , Pesikan explains . He says that it is not enough just to know to play some instrument to be a Musical Therapist . " It requires a lot of knowledge and a lot of other skills . Music is a powerful tool . There are reasons why we are keen on listening to sad music when we are sad , as same as why our mind requires energy music when we feel good ." The drummer from Sarajevo explains that musical therapy for children with disabilities requires special attention " Since I am working with disabilities , I always have to be aware that they are not able to control their emotions . Some children become afraid when entering a new environment , while others could be too excited when they hear live music . Sometimes those are strong emotional expressions , to that extent that they could get a heart attack ."
In Pesikan ’ s concept , it is that children with disabilities have the final product . " After every semester , we need to have their song . Firstly , we are learning how to play , and when we learn them , then we come to playing and recordings . We produce songs as their own final product and that has an enormously good effect on them . When they first time hear their work , they feel proud .”
To be able to work this job , a person has to be gifted and to be able to recognize the emotions of children just by watching their faces or eyes . " In the previous 15 years of my work , I have tried to have as many as possible different cases to be able to gain experience and improve my skills .”
Recently Pesikan had a great example of art power when he taught the girl with a hearing loss to play drums . Toni explains that there are special drums for people who can ' t hear the sounds , but using those special drums can feel the frequency of sounds they produce . " When I firstly mention the idea that I want to teach her to
26 SLEUTH ISSUE 4