Bavubuka All Stars

We started the second day with breakfast at Backpackers with Whitney Houston’s “The Bodyguard” soundtrack in the background. We packed up the bus and headed to the handicraft market. This was to be our one day to shop for many of the items we would see there. I picked up a couple of masks from the region but others really cleaned up, making the most out of our 45 minutes.

From the market we headed to the Bavubuka House. This was a very inspiring place. We walked in and the walls were covered in children’s drawings. The Bavubuka (the lugandan word for youth) Foundation was founded by a Ugandan Hip Hop artist Silas “Bavubuka” Balabyekkubo and Canadian Film director Aaron Elton. Their goal is to connect youth from diverse background with music, arts, and sports. We arrived on “cipher Tuesday” so all the aspiring hip hop artists were together to write and perform. They call their particular style of hip hop “Luga Flow” because they rap in Luganda, the language in Kampala.
The hope is that the youth will support each other, mentor each other, and push each other. There are a number of rooms available in the house for youth off the street if they can follow the house rules: no smoking, alcohol, drugs, working at night, inappropriate language etc.

I had goosebumps as the caretaker spoke. He seemed so full of love, pride, and optimism. When he spoke of donors who had provided recording studio equipment, a press for making t-shirts, and soccer cleats, he said, “We are thankful to our donors. They believe in us.”

And they have big dreams. Their hope is to build a community centre on the site where they can have art, dance, and recording studios, classrooms, computer lab, photo lab, gym, and more.

We are excited because a few people from the house are coming to the conference in Gulu this weekend to share their experience with people working with youth in Northern Uganda. The people coming have never left Kampala so this trip will be an incredible experience for them I am sure.

Many of us left with souvenirs such as a Bavubuka All Stars Hip Hop CD, printed t-shirts, jewellery, and art cards as we boarded the bus for our 5+ hour drive to Gulu.