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Martin Neil

The Heartbeat of Music

By Drums

The drum is one of the oldest known musical instruments, being played in various forms by nearly every people group in the world, producing a huge variety of sounds fashioned in many shapes and sizes, the drum provides the foundation to most traditional and modern day music.

For over 4,000 years drums have been used in many diverse situations, e.g. in religious celebrations, for sending signals or messages, on the battlefield during the Civil War, to help African slaves overcome the boredom of hard monotonous work, storytelling in China, carnivals in Brazil, healing, dancing, and entertainment. Read More

2. June 2001
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A vast continent that has at least 3000 distinct ethnic groups, (Nigeria alone has more than 370 recognised tribes) each with their own unique culture. Every time we visit, we come back changed by the breathtaking landscapes, the colourful people and the astounding musicality that holds the stories of this incredible land.

Martin Neil
25. January 2001
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Karibu to Kenya

By Africa, My StoriesNo Comments
Kenya from the air

Looking out over the nearside aircraft wing, the first golden rays of daylight pierce the distant horizon, as the air steward announces in kiswahili of our impending landing in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. I have travelled with a team of 15 to help with a conference, musical concerts and takeing supplies to village schools. The tannoy system crackles into life again, “Karibu”, welcome to Kenya. Read More

21. October 2000
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Reconcilliation in Rwanda

By Africa, My StoriesNo Comments
 

RwandaLeaving Entebbe airport in Uganda behind us, the seemingly never-ending vastness of Lake Victoria below, our destination was a small African country, Rwanda. Tucked just south of Uganda, west of Tanzania, north of Burundi and east of Zaire, this beautiful green land of a thousand hills was the scene of a devastating genocide just six years ago. Between half a million to one million people were massacred and two million became refugees at a time when this country was considered one of the most Christian in Africa, 90% of the population called themselves either Roman Catholic or Protestant. Read More

21. July 2000
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Rwanda – Mana, Kiza U Rwanda

By Music from the Nations2 Comments

An amazing collaboration bringing Hutu’s and Tutsi’s together, two people groups who had been traumatised by the effects of genocide. Songs of reconciliation were written and sung talented young Rwandans and Dave Bankhead oversaw both in Rwanda and the UK the production.

www.weareone.org.uk/articles/reconciliation-in-rwanda-1999-2005

Ikinimba

21. July 2000
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In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams

Nigerian proverb
27. November 1999
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The Mandinka way

By Africa, My Stories3 Comments

gambiaIt is rainy season and as the plane flew towards the landing strip at Banjul, the capital city of The Gambia, verdant tropical forests of flat-topped acacia and baobab trees, flooded by seasonal rains fill the landscape. Lying at the western edge of Africa, surrounded on three sides by Senegal, its river defining the countries very existence, the Gambia is one of the poorest countries in the world. With a life expectancy of around 50 years and between 100-200 children in every 1000 dying before the age of five, the average western citizen is up to 100 times better off than their Gambian counterpart. I was about to be dropped into a fragile African nation of diverse cultural expressions. Read More

30. August 1999
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In Eagle’s country

By EuropeNo Comments
albania

Whilst sitting on a plane bound for Tirana, the capital of Albania, the realisation of a two year dream (which had been instilled into us by our good friend Yke Visser from the Netherlands) was about to be fulfilled. Little was I to know then, what a huge impact the next eight days would have both in and through us. Read More

21. August 1996
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