Rwanda Youth Music
In the 1990s Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo suffered brutal violence and conflicts. Although Rwanda has maintained peace, ongoing effects, fighting and instability continue in the region today. Importantly, fuelling this violence are histories of colonial oppression, based on war, profit, division and injustice.
Amidst many tragedies, one consequence of conflict in the Great Lakes region of Africa was the rapid spread of HIV. During the 100-day genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994, an estimated 150,000 people contracted HIV.
Rwanda Youth Music began in 2012 in response to the legacies of genocide in Rwanda, and the ongoing cycles of violence in the region.
Support for young people living with HIV
Rwanda Youth Music began in 2012 in partnership with WE-ACTx for Hope, to support the needs of children and young people living with HIV. Today, a team of community music leaders, trained by Musicians Without Borders, run a wide range of activities, including:
- Therapeutic music groups in patients’ communities,
- Drop-in sessions during WE-ACTx for Hope’s children’s clinic hours,
- Drum circles in support group sessions,
- Instrument lessons, and
- Music camps.
National reach
Every year, the Rwanda Youth Music team makes music with over 1000 children and youth in their communities, across Kigali, and throughout Rwanda. They run music workshops for vulnerable youth including in refugee camps, centers for former street children, communities facing profound poverty, and those living with HIV.
From 2021 the team runs free music lessons and workshops for children at the Community Music Center in Kigali. This new project will have immediate impact:
- Creating employment opportunities for young people,
- Building a flourishing cultural center in an underserved community,
- Providing free access for children to the social and personal benefits of music.
Regional Projects: Kivu Youth Music
Over the past ten years, Rwanda Youth Music has become a regional hub of expertise, running trainings across Rwanda and in Uganda and Tanzania. The strong team of trainers, community music leaders and project coordinators are now driving a new project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, fuelled by their own personal knowledge of the positive impact music can have.
In 2022, the Rwanda Youth Music team trained 25 young Community Music Leaders in Goma, Democratic Reublic of Congo, with the skills to run music workshops with children and youth who are directly affected by conflict. Since July 2022 the new music leaders have made music with over 1,000 children who live in orphanages and camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs). The workshops offer connection, joy and opportunities for creativity in the most deprived of environments.
The project aims to build communities that are prepared to act creatively and peacefully for their future. The new team of Community Music Leaders are trained to facilitate groups in collaborative and expressive creativity. The cross-border approach, wherein Rwandan and Congolese youth are the activists for social change, embodies the notion of peaceful co-existence in a context where cooperation is vital.
In just the first 6 months of 2022, over 200,000 people were displaced by violence in the area surrounding Goma, in the Northern Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Young people are particularly vulnerable. Children and youth are abducted into armed forces, and others join willingly against their backdrop of hopelessness and violence. Orphanages are full. Thousands of children are displaced by conflict, away from schools, friends and often their families.
Chris Nicholson
Regional program manager East Africa
Shyaka Allison
Program officer
Uwamahoro Madina
WE-ACTx for Hope: Music program coordinator
Uwamariye Emelynne
WE-ACTx for Hope: Music program coordinator
Kana Yves
WE-ACTx for Hope: Trainer
Rukengeza Espoir
WE-ACTx for Hope: Trainer
Bonani Djuma
WE-ACTx for Hope: Trainer
Filter
Established in
2012
Active in
Rwanda
Democratic Republic of Congo
Tanzania (past program)
Uganda (past program)
Key partners
WE-ACTx for Hope
Key numbers
35000
participants to date
225
community music leaders trained
