HELP THE WOMEN DRUMMERS BUY NEW DRUMS!
All the music you heard in the Book of Life is sung and/or played by INGOMA NSHYA, the Women Drummers of Rwanda. Ingoma Nshya is a visionary grass roots project formed by Kiki Katese in 2004. They have multiple goals: healing, reconciliation, women’s social and financial empowerment, and artistic excellence. For the women, the group has been a place to begin to live again, to build new relationships, to heal the wounds of the past. They celebrate their 15th anniversary this Fall.
The women are looking to raise CAD$1,500 dollars for a much-needed set of new drums to play for their anniversary. They receive no arts funding from the Department of Culture in Rwanda, so are dependent on the generosity of supporters.
If you would like to support these remarkable women, and their shining example of reconciliation and empowerment for girls and women, please consider a modest donation (or even a large one!).
"We are the first female drummers in Rwanda… And maybe the men are afraid that in the future we will play better than them!” - Jackie Umubyeyi
