Women are the true custodians of Batwa Culture
Paskazia Nyiragaromba is one of the elderly women in the Birarara community, she is a mother of seven and wife to Semabagare the chief of the Batwa in Birara. She is a singer, dancer, and instrumentalist. Paskazia is currently unable to dance or walk due to a bone ailment that keeps her in her wheelchair.
The instrument she plays is called Omudhuri. It 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 current habitat, but still exists in the forest where they used to live.
It is tied to a calabash 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 is usually played as an accompanying instrument to songs and dances.
The Batwa currently use other types of tree branches to imitate the Omudhuri since the forest is in accessible, the Omudhuri is one of the instruments that is at risk owing to the changing context the Batwa environment and lifestyle
Donations
Please donate to the Batwa to conserve their endangered intangible heritage.