Harmonic sound waves in hospital hallways across South Africa are bringing healing. When the COVID-19 outbreak shocked the globe, frontline workers in the health sector were faced with the enormous task of saving lives from an unprecedented virus. As infection numbers skyrocketed, so did the toll on their physical and emotional wellbeing. Appreciating these workers’ heroic efforts, Bryony May orchestrated a solution to uplift their spirits – classical music. “We owe our healthcare workers a great debt,” the doctor says. “Not only have they been doing their job, but they’ve also had to give their own emotional energy in supporting patients and being the one by the bedside.”
The emergence of COVID-19 in 2020 left many people in South Africa destitute. Based in the Western Cape, May established the community initiative Together Against Covid to provide basic necessities and a street-based education hub for children in Cape Town’s underprivileged neighbourhoods. But May, accustomed to the rigours that come with working in hospitals, also invited music teachers, students and even the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra to play in the corridors of Life Kingsbury Hospital, Helderberg Hospital and Karl Bremer Hospital among others. “These musicians have changed the energy in hospitals and spread emotional healing,” she says.
May uses the language of music to bring relief in a period of distress. “It’s connecting diverse communities and spreading hope,” she says. As medical personnel continue to tend to the needs of patients in tough times, May arranges musicians to serenade them and recharge their batteries. “It’s been wonderful to see the reaction, from tears to joy to dancing,” she says. “It has really lifted the morale.”
Footage by Soap4Safety and Ashraf Hendricks for GroundUp News was used in the creation of this film.
