War Child and the city of Mostar co-founded the Pavarotti Music centre in 1997 as a cultural centre to work across communal boundaries in the then devastated city. Pavarotti himself opened the centre in a primary school, rebuilt after being destroyed during fighting between the Croats and the Muslims for control of Mostar.

A Troubled Past

A few hundred kilometres to the south of Srebrenica lies Mostar, a big town with an even bigger history, but a place that also bears the visible scars of the Balkans War.

Since the war, divorce rates, suicide rates, incidents of violent homicide are up. High unemployment and conditions of poverty remain stable but critical. The city which was once regarded as the most integrated in the whole of former Yugoslavia is now depicted as the city in which the River Neretva splits the Croats on the West side from the Muslims on the East. The 20 per cent of the population made up of Serbs before the war is now five. Mostar is not what it once was.

War Child’s Work Begins

War Child has worked in Mostar since 1993. Initially War Child operated emergency feeding programmes but then in 1997 , The Pavarotti Music Centre was opened. Sited in East Mostar, the predominantly Bosniak side of the city, the centre is home to a unique music therapy programme.

War Child originally funded a local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) called MUSERS to deliver music therapy to children in Mostar each year. Many of these children exhibit learning difficulties and trauma directly related to their experiences of the war over ten years ago. Many more children display the psychological effects of growing up within families and an environment severely affected by the conflict. Each music therapy course takes six months and although this may seem like a long amount of time, this is a necessarily long process to undo the knots cause by years of war related trauma.

When War Child visited the centre to conduct research workshops with children from all over the city, we were struck by how positive and pragmatic these young minds were. They had hopes and aspirations that they weren't about to give up - despite the constant reminders of how difficult their future might be.

Passing the torch back to Mostar

The Pavarotti Music centre has been locally managed for some time now but War Child retained a 49% stake that was transferred to the unified city government, together with the equipment in the centre's recording studio in October 2007. The MUSERS project, now housed in the Pavarotti Centre, has also since become independent of War Child.

Chief Executive of War Child Mark Waddington explains how MUSERS will now take up responsibility for themselves to cover the costs of providing a much needed service to local children.

"We hope that as the investment and support provided by War Child comes to an end, MUSERS will be in a position to continue its work, serving the community of Mostar over the long term, and taking its place in the network of services for children that is developing in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This will represent the successful culmination of War Child's work in the region and, twelve years after the end of the conflict, a further vote of confidence in the future of the country.

More about Musers

MUSERS' therapists help children referred by special needs centres, schools, orphanages and refugee camps. They have been seeing about 200 children a year, mostly for six to twelve months. The highly qualified therapists work according to international professional practice standards; the support they provide for each child is based on individual diagnosis, and tailored to individual need. Examples of Musers' success; a child with cerebral palsy develops motor skills; a hyperactive child becomes calmer and better able to concentrate; an isolated and withdrawn girl engages with her environment; an autistic boy makes contact with his peers. Each child learns to trust their world, where previously it may have seemed unsafe.

MUSERS has developed close links with local agencies, offering a range of services to children with special needs and mental health problems.

To donate to MUSERS, go through War Child or directly to:

MUSERS, UI marsala Tita, 179 Luka, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tel: 00387 36 550 752