African Music

I don't think that you could understand Africa without experiencing her music. I began my day invited to a prayer meeting next to the hostel. So after a cold shower at 5:30 am I wandered over into the service. As only one of two Mzungu (white person) filling the church, I was pretty obvious.

Picture a large church filled with singing people. No, see you don't understand if you haven't been to Africa. The few old hymns in the dozen that they did were anything but stodgy - even with an organ leading. And drums. And an electric guitar. And multipart harmony. And swaying. And a tenor song leader with a voice to call across the Grand Canyon. I would have taken a picture but it seemed to be so Spirit filled that it felt sacriligeous. Here's a picture taken later when the church was quiet.


There is music everywhere. On TV. On radios. Broadcast into restaurants. While I ate dinner, the music came over the speakers and there was a choir practicing in the courtyard. And as I headed to my room, I heard another choir at practicing at the church. It called to me so I went and listened. I tried to upload a clip of some music but the internet was just too slow. After more than an hour and a half of waiting, I gave up. So here's a picture of them practicing:

It's like rock music for choirs, but better.
African music is really special. Even when you don't know what their singing, it grabs your heart.