The Subbi Fusion Troupe is gearing up for their Ontario African Heritage Tour in hopes of educating Canadian youth about struggles in East Africa while using entertainment to do so.
Suubi means “hope” in the Luganda language and that is exactly what the travelling troupe made up of high school students hopes to bring to an area that lacks proper education for everyone.
Henry Lukenge works with Nexim International, which brings resources together to help build schools in East Africa, particularly those for girls as in Uganda education is not free.
“We help provide access to education for girls, especially in East Africa because education is not free and can be difficult, especially for girls, to obtain,” said Lukenge. “It is sometimes hard for people other parts of the world to think of having to pay for education, but that is a reality that some children and adults face. It is an alien concept to many, the fact that children have to walk so far and pay so much for school, it can be very humbling.”
Lukenge is the son of one of the founders of the program and it is what pushes him to help bring the troupe to Canada.“I worked in finance for a long time but left that world and now along with my medical staffing business I continue the work with the Suubi Troupe,” said Lukenge. “I’ve been involved with this for most of my life as my mom was involved with one of schools that supported this work.”
During the month of February, the Suubi Fusion Troupe will travel to different schools and organizations in Ontario with stops in Barrie, including appearances at both libraries and the MacLaren Art Centre.
"We have a partnership with a few school boards to provide content during Black History Month and the students and teachers are donating whatever they can to our work,” said Lukenge. “The Subbi Fusion Troupe does many things including African dance, drumming and we will provide the education background as to what is happening over in places like Uganda.”
The 2018 tour plus donations enabled the completion of 60 per cent of the work on the construction of a 500-bed girls hostel at one of the schools.
The shows for Barrie are on Feb. 23 at the downtown Barrie Public Library and Feb. 24 at the Painswick branch with both shows at 3 p.m. There is also a performance at the MacLaren Art Centre Feb. 24 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
More information on tickets for the events can be found here.
