Posts Tagged ‘Gulu’

Acholi Culture

Posted: September 6, 2011 in Education, Entertainment, Music
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Acholiland

Acholiland

The Acholi people are an ethnic group who are located in the northern part of Uganda.  The area is commonly referred to as Acholiland. They have a rich and diverse cultural heritage that is expressed in a wide variety of music and dance that has been passed from generation to generation.

Unfortunately the Acholi culture was stifled for two decades while the region suffered from a horrific conflict that traumatized innocent civilians.  The displacement of people from their villages caused social degradation that threatened the survival of important Acholi traditions.

Now that peace has returned to the northern part of Uganda, the Acholi people are revitalizing their culture as it existed before the war. Elders are now teaching important traditions to the younger generations once again.

In December 2007, I traveled to Gulu, Uganda to attend a large community event that celebrated the Acholi culture in music and dance .  The celebration lasted from early evening until sunrise the next morning.  I documented the event with pictures and video. Being able  to witness a community rising from brink of extermination is something that I will never forget.

I would like to dedicate this video to my Acholi friends who are now rebuilding their culture and traditions.


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Acholi resources:

Acholi Community of North America

Acholi Times: The Voice of the Acholi People

One Night in Gulu

Posted: January 13, 2011 in Music, Travel
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During one of my visits to Uganda in 2007, I visited the city of Gulu in the northern part of the country. I was invited there by a wonderful Acholi friend.  One night in Gulu I was asked by another Acholi friend, Sam Okello, if I wanted to go to a nightclub and play pool.   The place that we went to was filled with young adults who were enjoying the company of friends and listening to music.  We waited our turn to play pool and I kept everyone entertained by catching flying ants and eating them.  During the night people would come to me with flying ants clutched in their hand to see if what they had heard from other people was true.  They would put them in my hand and watch me eat them. Eating these insects is not unusual.  They are also roasted and considered a delicacy.

The experience was made even more surreal when the local disc jockey in the nightclub decided to play a popular American song from 1982.  Here I was playing pool with an Acholi friend in a city recovering from a twenty year rebel insurgency while eating raw insects wearing a “Rage Against The Machine” t-shirt and listening to Toto’s song Africa.   The song was played more than once.

That song now immediately transports me back to that special night of my life spent in Gulu.  That’s why I included the song in this video of me riding on a boda boda through the streets of Gulu.