A Sunny Day in Wakefield

Yesterday we had the pleasure of performing for for annual Great Grannies Concert in Wakefield Quebec. This amazing group of women has been staging this fundraiser for the grandmothers in South Africa for years, and its been our honour to have been involved since the beginning, first with our adult group Akpokli and this year with the Baobab Youth. Summer being summer, we had only 10 of the 22 kids in the group, but these ten worked hard and played well, (including three new ROOTS kids who are moving up to the older group this season- Iris, Jona and Ben TS....)

Now, we play lots of fundraisers for wonderful causes, some more formal than others but this one is always quirky and a huge amount of fun...held on the locally famous covered bridge, performers are met by an amazing group of friendly volunteers and "grandmothers" dressed in breezy and groovy clothing. We were in great company, the Sifa Choir and the Ramesha Drummers performed, among others. This being Wakefield, there were tons of cyclists, swimmers and bridge jumpers meandering throughout the event. This is very African, this coming together of arts, community focus and everyday life, all just happening around us. Some of us went swimming after the gig in the beautiful Gatineau river, and one of us even did the big bridge jump!

A great way to raise some money and a chance for the group to dust off our drumming hands and get ready for what promises to be a busy and exciting season......Thanks to Carole for the photo.

Rhythm Trek Camp

"I liked how everyone drums and it sounds sirously good and it makes real music. I like the Gahu dance and drumming because it makes my upsidedown frown UP!
I am 9 years old, my name is Nasteho."

Last week was a special week at the studio, bringing 13 kids ages 8-12, two Baobab Youth mentors, and music, art and food instructors together for a fabulous and fun cultural learning experience.

Kathy Armstrong worked with the kids on Gahu drumming and dancing, a great intro piece from Ghana played with sticks. Rowan and Claudia were our amazing volunteer mentors from Baobab Youth. They taught the kids some great rec games, oversaw the lunchtimes and spent time working on their own leadership skills through some lead drum parts which they showcased at the end of the week.
As Rowan, age 14 said " This year's Rhythm Trek Camp was a great success. All the kids learned so much and were so much fun to work with. I also loved learning lead drum for Gahu and Kpanlogo. Once again I can't enforce how gifted, fun and exciting all of the campers are."


On Tuesday, everyone made a fabulous Adinkra art project with artist Maureen Clarke - a keepsake box- beautifully painted and inscribed, which they took home on Friday.

Ghanaian Dominic Donkor came in from Montréal to work with the campers for two days, teaching them drumming and dancing for Kpanlogo, aided by teacher and Baobab Board member Nadine Powers.
Rory and Iris Magill organized the Ghanaian food segment, making menus for the chop bar "New Friend-chop Bar" (named by the kids) and cooking and serving the food on Friday at our lunchtime celebration.


Through the generosity of the Rotary Club and Queen Elizabeth School we were able to offer four subsidized spots to the camp. The community presentation at the end of the week was a great showcase of all the fun and hard work that took place. Thanks to all who participated and helped out. Can't wait for next year!
A few closing words from Victoria, age 8 "I thought that Baobab was hard when I first saw everyone doing different beats at different times but it was not. I learned that different people from different families can have a lot in common. I made a lot of friends in Baobab, I think its really cool. "