Redemption Song Foundation

Happy Earth Day from the of Uganda and Redemption Song Foundation! 🌍🌎🌳🌱

Here’s an inside peek at one of the schools some of our supported Batwa kids attend, Victory Primary School. 🏫 We need sponsors for several of our kids. Send a pm or just go to the redemption song foundation website and set up a recurring donation of $45/mo and will write you to select s mm a child.

An “African helicopter” took grandfather Milton from me he collapsed in the remote village he lives in. Next I’ll share the videos how they carry people down the hillside. There are no roads to the houses where the Batwa live. Thank the Lord, he’s ok. But he’s not out of the woods yet. We don’t know what caused it and donations to help get the family some extra food as he’s very skinny. He’s the father of several kids in our school program, Beckham, Edgar/Davis (who needs a sponsor), Shivan, and Sasha. Grandpa to Angel and Kenzo and Loyce’s baby girl born yesterday!!!

Davis (aka Edgar) needs a sponsor! This boy had dropped out of P7 at the very last minute, just filling to take his primary leaving exam (PLE) which is required to move onto secondary school. His younger brother Beckham has gone on and when he saw everybody went to school but him.

The first AFRICA, ACTUALLY substack post by Joyce Orishaba! "An Award for One is Recognition for All" -- The Batwa people are erased from international discussions, whether about mountain gorilla conservation, sovereignty, or Indigenous rights. This recognition starts to change that. (link in comments)

I recently met Dr. Rui Diogo, Howard University professor, anthropologist, and biologist who produced a 45-minute documentary, Baka: Wisdom of the Forest. What a cool look at a traditional way of living that’s simple, peaceful, and egalitarian.

Check out our latest Substack article - link in comment!

“Until the 1950s, Ugandan villagers chained unmarried, pregnant girls on an island in the middle of Lake Bunyonyi in south Uganda to give birth alone: Punishment Island. Most of the girls died there in childbirth, their wails heard from the shore. Some tried to swim, but drowned....”

New post + Soft Launch of my Substack: Africa, Actually. Check it out to learn culture, music, food, and connections between the continent and the US while unlearning stereotypes! Eventually, I’d like to create a space where aspiring African creators like students from Redemption Song Foundation, can post and meanwhile, I will be highlighting some cool stories.

My first post, African Folktales, Reimagined Leaving Netflix 3/29, highlights a short film based in Lake Bunyoni, where — until the 1950s — villagers chained unmarried, pregnant girls on an island to give birth alone: Punishment Island. The true story is re-imagined as a Kill Bill-like revenge fantasy by Ugandan film maker Loukman Ali who won a UNESCO-Netflix competition to retell legends and tales, in their own way.

Check out my post and my own experience at Lake Bunyonyi! Link in comments.

The Netflix series features 6 short films made by African film makers re-imagining ancient African legends and stories. Support me by subscribing, reading, sharing the substack link and let me know if you’ve watched this. Have you watched it? Or will you?

Either way, I’d be honored if you subscribe or follow my new substack! I’ll put an active link in my story and highlight but you can search substack for Africa, Actually, or type
https://ActuallyAfrica.com

Did you know nearly half of deaths under 5 are due to malnutrition and undernutrition? When we started our efforts with the Kalehe Batwa community, the children faced severe nutritional and health issues. We started our Educational Soup Kitchen to “kill 2 🐦 birds with one stone 🪨” and it worked! While many, many young children died among the older generation (30s, 40s & up), we have lost none of our children, and all receive one or two extra meals at the Redemption Song Foundation office every week. The second bird 🐦 is education. Batwa kids had much higher school dropout rates so we wanted to engage them in fun ways with learning, through games, toys, books, music, dance, and lessons. And to this day, the Batwa love it! We supplement the food they get at a school (which is beans and corn posho). Yay us.