Background
Sembagare Francis, aged 60, is called the Kisoro Biraara Batwa community chief and chairperson
He is responsible for governing the Batwa and ensuring they move in line with other people’s ideologies to change their mindset.
The Batwa say that as they are in the modernized era, they want to protect and maintain their heritage, despite their sad history since their expulsion from the forest. He was chosen as the man to liberate most of the communities in Kisoro and Uganda at large (Batwa). He has a family of seven children; five boys and two girls. Dicta sunt explicabo. Adipiscing elit sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Umudhuri (Singular)/Imidhuri (Imidhuri) – Bow Instrument
Ingoma -Drum
Is a string instrument from the Batwa that is made out of a stick bent like a bow and stretched with a wire or string at both ends to form a bow. It is made using sticks or branches from the Macadamia tree, rare to find in their Batwa current habitat, but still exists in the forest where they used to live. A calabash is then tied at the bottom to produce low end sound and played with a light stick that is hit along the wire were the pitches are found to produce sound. It’s played as accompaniment to songs and chants and dance. Currently the Batwa can only imitate this instrument with other species of trees and calabash types because the forest is inaccessible to them. Conservation of the Omudhuri is at risk since the habitat of the Batwa and environment has changed and is shifting from the forest life they used to know to other areas of settlement.
This a drum made out of Macadamia wood and covered by cow skin at the top. With smaller cow skin strings fastened on the top membrane to act as tuning strings to create different pitches.
Inanga (Singular) /Inangu (Plural) – Harp
Is a string instrument played by the Batwa it is made out of Mahogany wood, shaped as an oval and strings tied vertically from top to bottom to create a pentatonic scale. It is played like a harp with a plucking stroke using fingers, rhythmically to produce sound. The Inanga is lately being reproduced using other types of wood which are not as strong and sometimes bought, which is not very sustainable for the lifespan of the instrument, since the Batwa are losing the opportunity of craftsmanship from their elders who used to hand make these instruments with the abundance of its materials.
Discover More
Sembagare Francis is a keeper of the forest and one of the surviving elders of the Batwa community in Kisoro, a father, husband, and leader who conserves the Batwa lineage through oral tradition and music heritage. At the age of 60, Sembagare has passed on the skill and art of several Lutwa instruments, dances, and oratory to his sons and daughter who will live to preserve his legacy long after he does not walk the path of life anymore. He is revered for his leadership, wit, skill, and strong will to protect what is left of the Batwa. He plays the Enanga, Omudhuri and dances with utmost grace.
Donations
Please donate to the Batwa to conserve their endangered intangible heritage.
