(Developed by Aidan from an idea by Jafar, lyrics & vocal melody by Emmanuela, poetry by Xezal )
(Lingala)
Aye eeh, eeh eeh eeh ima eh
Mobembo nga makenda, nga
nakomi mosika
Mobembo nga nakenda wapi
lobi nangai
Kola oyeba, Kola omona
mokili makambo eeeh.
Chorus: Elonga ezali eh (repeat)
Kasi nga nabanga te, nga
nalenga te, namilela te elonga
ezali
Oyo ozali na ngambo
Nanga ye nde nzakomba
Papana mwana naye
Asimbi mokili na maboko naye
Chorus: Elonga ezali eh (x3).
Translation:
This journey I took, I now find
myself far away
This journey I took, My future is
uncertain
Grow up so you can know, grow
up so you can see
Life is hard
(Chorus)
However, there’s hope for victory
However, I shall not fear, I shall
not be shaken, I shall not cry;
the one by me is the creator of
everything, is God.
(Turkish)
Yalnizlik nedir, sen bilemezsin
Karanlik gecenin sabahini, sen
bilemezsin
Ben yasadim, ben bilirim
Sen hic Tanriya yalvarip, canimi
al dedin mi?
Sen diyemezsin, ben yasadim,
ben bilirim
Translation
You don’t know, what loneliness
is
You don’t know, The morning
after a dark night
I lived, I know
Have you ever prayed to God to
take your life?
You can’t say, I lived, I know

This Journey

Al-Shurouq School for Blind Children in Beit Jallah is always organizing interesting activities for their students. We have given several music workshops in their school, and two groups of children received a series of ten rap workshops. During the workshops of Soud and Hisham from Dheisheh refugee camp the children developed their musicality and wrote their own rap texts. Please enjoy the following video clip created by Soud Homaidi of one of the songs written by the blind children. You can find the Arabic lyrics and English translation below.

انا ساجدة بحب الموسيقى بكرة بدي اصير معلمة عريقة
اعلم الاطفال عالعود و الجيتار
اوصل الرسالة و الموسيقى هي الطريقة

انا كرم بحب الجيش عشان احمي الوطن
و اساعد الناس و اتغلب على المحن
انا كرم حامي الوطن

انا احمد نفسي اصير استاذ
اعلم انجليزي بدرجة امتياز
١ ٢ ٣ طلاب في الكلاس
يلا اول درس افتحوا الكراس

انا اريج بدي اندمج للمجتمع اغاني انتج
راب يغير الناس يخلي عندهم احساس x٢

انا مازن بدي افتح مخازن لمعرض سيارات
ابيع مرسيديس و بيع بي ام ات
و اساعد الناس اوفرلهم مواصلات
انا مازن ملك السيارات

لازمة
فكرتي، اكتب عن شو بحب
ف جعبتي، كلام كثير مهم

I am Sajida, I love music and I want to become a great teacher
to teach children the guitar and Oud
to convey a message through music

I, Karam, want to be in the army to protect our homeland
and help people and overcome adversity
I am Karam, the homeland protector

I am Ahmad, I want to be a teacher
to teach English perfect
1,2,3 students in the class
the first lesson, open the book

I am Areej, I want to merge in the community and produce music
Rap changes people and give them feelings (2x)

I am Mazen, I want to open a car show room
I will sell Mercedes and BMW
and help people and offer them transportation
I am the king of cars, I am Mazen

Chorus:
My idea is to write about what I love
In my heart are many important words

Blind Palestinian children rap about their dreams

To mark "Worldwide Music Day" on June 21st 2015, MwB Community Music Leaders from Rwanda have written and recorded the song "Ubumuntu". Ubumuntu means a compassionate, kind, empathetic way of living.
Since 2010 Musicians without Borders has worked in Rwanda, training young people as Community Music Leaders. Through music and nonviolent leadership, the Rwanda Youth Music program has given support to over 2000 vulnerable young people.

Ubumuntu

"Humura" is a word said as a compassionate, empathetic response. This song is written for people living as refugees in Rwanda, and beyond, by MwB Community Music Leaders. 

Humura

01 Los Kaminos de Sirkidji (trad. Sephardic - Turkey)

06 Imam Bey's Mosque (Bosnia)

A band from our partner organisation in Rwanda wrote this song, expressing their feelings when they think of the tragic events of 1994.

“Although I wasn’t there, I was told about it.
Imagining it is hard for me.
Their tears are flowing and they are full of sadness and my sorrow.”

The chorus sings:
“All of us as Rwandan youth and all Rwandan people,
We won’t accept that Genocide happens again,
We wont accept that people kill each other again,
We wont accept tribes to divide people, which made our friends be killed while we still needed them.”

Ihorere Rwanda

Written by Community Music Leaders, Kampala, Uganda.
(Partnership with Keep a Child Alive)

A Child's Smile

During the July-August 2012 training weeks in Rwanda (Rwanda Youth Music project), MwB trainer Danny Felsteiner recorded a man singing and playing Inanga, a traditional Rwandan instrument. This man is one of a few people in Rwanda who still teach the instrument.

Traditional Rwandan instrument playing and singing

In July-August we had the second training period in Rwanda, part of our project Rwanda Youth Music. The training ended with a two-day recording session at the French Cultural Institute in Kigali. The youth leaders in the program wrote the songs, sang and drummed. MwB trainers, Danny and Sherwin, together with the local musicians James, Paco and Kim, accompanied the youth leaders on other instruments.

This song is called Urumuri (The Light).

In Kinyarwanda:
urumuri ruberaho kubonesha, mama 
umucyo uberaho kubonesha, shenge 

ubuzima ni nk'urumuri
rumurikira intambwe za burimunsi

Translation into English:
the light exists for giving light, mama
the clarity exists for revealing, yes

life is just like light
it lights the steps of everyday

Urumuri (The Light)

In April 2019, MWB trainers Manu van Kersbergen and Guus van der Steen led a rap workshop with unaccompanied refugee youth living in the safe zone of the Eleonas Refugee Camp in Athens, Greece, in collaboration with IOM Greece.

Be Strong, Feel Free: Rap Workshop at the Eleonas Refugee Camp in Athens, Greece

In April 2019, MWB trainers Manu van Kersbergen and Guus van der Steen led a rap workshop with unaccompanied refugee youth living in the safe zone of the Schisto Refugee Camp in Athens, Greece, in collaboration with IOM Greece.

This is My Life: Rap Workshop at the Schisto Refugee Camp in Athens, Greece

A song written by the participants of a songwriting workshop given by MwB trainers Lis Murphy and Danny Felsteiner Mekori, in Derry-Londonderry, May 2013.

Musicians without Borders

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