Dance, Thrive and Grow: How one community development project in Uganda protects traditional knowledge.
In Uganda 1 in 5 high-school aged children attend classes. In rural areas the number plummets to only 5% for young girls. This is in a country where 55% of the population is under 18. Ronald Kibirige works with InteRoots, an organization that sees how serious this education crisis is in Uganda. Beyond getting students into classrooms, there is real concern that traditions, oral histories, and knowledges are at risk of vanishing. It is why his work is about keeping traditional knowledge alive and well for all generations in Uganda. It is a project with a solid and sound reminder that it is community strength and resilience that is at the heart of development. Ronald Kibirige is a Music and Dance Practitioner, Instrumentalist, Educationist and Researcher of African Music and Dance traditions. He pursued his undergraduate education in Music and Dance at Makerere University – Kampala. He completed graduate studies in Dance Knowledge, Practice and Heritage in a consortium of four Universities; University of Blaise Pascal-France, University of Szeged – Hungary, University of Roehampton – London, and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology – Norway, where he recently completed his doctoral studies in Humanities and the Arts. Beyond Academia and the Arts, Ronald has significant experience with nonprofit collaborations and management in Africa. Follow Dr. Bob on Twitter: @ProfessorHuish Check out InterRoots here: https://interoots.org