Meet Diana Kabira Lwanga, our Woman Crush Wednesday, a Ugandan mother-of-four who recorded an album featuring local Luganda folk stories, inspired by the need for a resource to help teach kids in the diaspora Luganda. I believe you’ve chanced upon a video or two of Muzungu kids singing local Luganda folk songs.
Who is Diana Kabira Lwanga?
Diana Lwanga is a mother, musician and founder & creative director of Mukwano Gw’abato Limited. I live in the UK with my four children; two boys and two girls. I was born and raised in Uganda. I left Uganda at the age of 22 because I wanted to better mine and my family’s life.
What is Mukwano Gwabato?
Mukwano Gw’abato is a very simple term just as you hear it: ‘A friend to the little ones’ in Luganda. It was born after I had had my last born.
For a long time, I used to sing Luganda children’s songs to my babies and I would tell them stories too. One day as I fed and sang to my baby I thought to myself if there was any recorded Luganda music for children online. I browsed through the internet and found nothing. I however found several documentaries but not properly recorded children’s music. I thought to myself, since I still know these songs from when I was growing up, I should one day record them for families to listen to and use as a resource to teach Luganda language through song. This was 2015. Two years later I recorded the album Luganda Nursery Rhymes featuring 25 five children songs. These include ‘Ffe Tuli embaata ento’, ‘Enjovu’, ‘Sirika wo baby’, ‘Twajja Tuli Mbuzi’ and more.
Inspiration
I was inspired by my love for culture, Luganda language and my children who are being raised in the diaspora where it’s a struggle to learn their mother tongue. I also wanted to preserve these songs. Not to be forgotten, for when we are gone. The next generations will have these songs and stories on file. I haven’t published any books yet but I have done several stories in form of video and animations. The books to these stories will follow shortly after the videos. So far I have created animation videos for six songs off the Luganda nursery rhymes. These can be found on my YouTube channel ‘Mukwano Gw’abato’. They can also be found on the Nkoza and Nankya app.
The audio album can be found at any Aristoc booklex store in Kampala. You can as well buy, stream or download songs on all digital media; Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Google Play, Amazon or CDbaby and many more.
Challenges
I reached out to several Ugandan producers, but none of them understood my concept because they’d probably never had of it or never done it. Then I found a producer her in the UK, bless his soul. He helped to record some songs but whenever I listened back, something was missing. It was not what I wanted. I needed a unique sound. One which would touch a child’s soul or mind. Eventually I went online where I met the amazing Andreworth. A Muzungu who got the concept and the rest was history. He produced the entire album.
Watch below
Subscribe to Omukwano Gwabato’s Youtube channel here.
satisfashionug@gmail.com
