Musique Pour la Paix Uses Music to Help Immigrants' and Refugees' Mental Health

"If it wasn't for music, I never would have survived," says Mona Ayoub, co-founder and president of Musique Pour la Paix. "Music helped me make friends, build connections and integrate into society in a meaningful and beautiful way. I want to help others gain access to the same opportunities."

Ayoub is a dual citizen of Brazil and Lebanon who discovered her love of music shortly after moving to the United States for a job at Humanwire in the summer of 2017. But not long after, Humanwire's founder was arrested for stealing more than $130,000 from his nonprofit that was meant to help Syrian refugees. Ayoub, who reported the crime to the police, was left temporarily homeless and jobless.

During Ayoub's lowest moments, she turned to music as a way to escape as well as maintain her mental health. "No matter what language you speak, music touches the human soul in some way or another," she says.

She started her music career as Eye-yoob in October 2018 with the release of her first song, “Gone Away.” Her style is a fascinating fusion of R&B/soul, French pop, Raï and North African music, and her themes are highly political, as in the June 2020 single "Monica in Quarantine" and its accompanying music video, which were inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic. And in reaction to the massive explosion in Beirut in 2020, Ayoub released "Be Beirut" in July 2021, dedicated to her home country. "Be Beirut" was played on multiple Lebanese national radio stations, streamed thousands of times on Spotify and covered by several Lebanese and Colorado news outlets.

But Ayoub sought to make a bigger impact. Last year she worked with her girlfriend, Allison Harrison, to create the nonprofit Musique Pour la Paix (Music for Peace). The organization is based in Denver, and its mission is to help talented refugees and immigrants from all over the world by supporting their mental health through music.

"Last fall, we started a nonprofit because we wanted to assist immigrants," says Ayoub. "I am an immigrant, so it was really important to me that we do something to help others in the community. Music helped me, but classes can be expensive. We are working to help connect immigrants and refugees with mental health resources while removing the financial barriers for them to be involved with art."

Musique Pour la Paix aims to provide access to entertainment and art activities in Denver through collaborations with other national and international organizations and sponsors.

"This is a newly founded nonprofit that is just getting started and can use all the help we can get," says Ayoub. "We have applied for 501(c)3 status and are already registered in Colorado, but we are still waiting on the letter from the IRS. We have begun applying for grants to support our two major projects, Bella Musica and Know Science, No Stigma." IRS representatives have said that it should take another two months to get the letter of determination, but that hasn't stopped the pair from getting to work in the community.

The nonprofit's Bella Musica project is being organized in collaboration with the dance studio Bella Diva World Dance, an international dance company in Denver that puts on professional shows and offers a wide range of dance classes. The project aims to create opportunities for new performers to participate in dance classes by covering tuition for ten immigrants and refugees at Bella Diva World Dance Studio for one year.

"I was forced to go to a Bella Diva recital a little while back by my girlfriend, Allison, who is a dancer," says Ayoub. "But I was so impressed with the organization of the event. I was inspired by the diversity and inclusion I saw featured in the performance, and Allison connected me with Bella Diva's artistic director [Caitlin Brozna-Smith], who we are now working with on this Bella Musica initiative."

"As women, the whole world is against us, so it is important for us to lift each other up," says Brozna-Smith. "Bella Diva is a multicultural group that believes our differences are what unite us, and we are always open to working with ambitious nonprofits on exciting projects that align with our values."

With financial barriers eliminated, the members of Musique Pour la Paix's target demographic will have the opportunity to focus on improving their skills and participate in Bella Diva's semi-annual dance and live music showcases. Those will occur in June and November of each year and will include dances from all over the world, with live music performed by local musicians. 

Musique Pour La Paix is also engaging in a communication campaign called Know Science, No Stigma to focus on mental health. Spearheaded by Harrison, who has had her own struggles with mental health, the campaign aims to not only end the negative stigma around mental illness, but to educate people about why our minds work the way they do.

"I started Know Science, No Stigma because I wanted to understand the science behind mental health," says Harrison. "We are working on outreach strategies, getting out in the community and creating a children’s coloring book with affirmations like 'I am worthy,' or 'I am loved' to help inspire kids."

The nonprofit's next major event is NAMIWalks on Saturday, May 13, at Centennial Center Park, where participants will walk to support mental health causes. Ayoub's band, Eye-yoob & Les Américains, will perform, and Harrison will speak to the crowd about mental health and the Know Science, No Stigma campaign.

"I feel like we're doing all the right things to set us up for success," says Ayoub. "Once we have grants, we're going to hire more people to help get the word out and get more things done. It’s a lot of work, but I believe in what we're doing. We've been told we need to build connections and then the money will come. So we've been partnering with like-minded organizations and working to get our name out in the community. Hopefully, it will all come together into something great."

NAMIWalks, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, May 13, Centennial Center Park, 13050 East Peakview Avenue, Centennial. For more information, check out musiquepourlapaix.org.