My name is Stella Wadiru, a third year Ph.D. candidate in music (ethnomusicology) in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences at University of Pittsburgh. I am an ethnomusicologist interested in developing strategies for promoting music, dance, and drama of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) communities. Ethnomusicologists acknowledge that refugees and IDP camps worldwide are imbued with expressive cultural activities. However, the relevance of these activities in enhancing refugee experience sharing, as well as the challenges and opportunities of refugee artists has received minimal ethnomusicological intervention.

During a field site visit to the Adjumani refugee settlements in Uganda in 2022, South Sudanese refugee artists recounted how music, dance, and drama help them cope with traumatic experiences resulting from violence and forced displacement. The musicians also narrated how musical performances have promoted re-imagining their lives. They wish to pursue careers in music, dance, and theater. However, they wish to learn basic songwriting, stage management, vocal techniques, music marketing, and promotion skills. These skills will enhance their ability to tell their stories as refugees, which, until now, have been “unheard” by warring parties in South Sudan, the Ugandan government, humanitarian agencies, researchers, and policymakers.

Through funding from the Pitch-Your-Own Summer Immersive Fellowship, I have been able to organize a three-day collaborative workshop with South Sudanese refugee artists under the curacy of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). During the workshop, the artists performed songs about common issues they face in Adjumani settlements such as gender-based violence, refugee welfare, social challenges, inter-ethnic conflicts as well as conflicts between refugees and their hosts (the Ugandan citizens in Adjumani who have offered land to settle refugees) over shared resources. The musicians explained how songs help them cope with life as refugees. We also shared knowledge on songwriting, stage management, vocal techniques, music marketing, promotion, and financial management. The workshop is one component of my dissertation fieldwork which will focus on the role of music and dance in the lives of South Sudanese refugee women and youth in the Adjumani district. It offers an un-matched opportunity to understand how music and dance activities might lead to psycho-social healing, community education, reflection and redefinition of traditional gender roles and identities, and peaceful co-existence among refugees and Ugandan citizens.

Since a three-day workshop was not sufficient for the development of musicianship, the artists requested extended bi-monthly peer mentorship for continuous knowledge sharing in musicianship. In my time working with the Lutheran World Federation thus far, I have begun developing a lesson guide containing basic topics to cover in singing techniques, song writing, music marketing and branding, and stage management to aid the mentorship program. I am also pulling together relevant literature and on-line resource on musicianship for the mentors to use during mentorship. Together with Abdul Nuru, the legal advisor of the Lutheran World Federation, and selected established artists we are also developing legal frameworks to protect the artists songs from piracy and dubbing. We hope these collective efforts will create a strong base to enhance South Sudanese refugee artists to tell their stories through music, dance, and theater.

Overall, this workshop has been an incredible opportunity to not only understand key themes of music and dance about South Sudanese refugee experiences, but also to understand the dynamics of teaching musicianship to talent-based artists. My dissertation will promote South Sudanese refugees’ music for post-war recovery, advocacy for lasting peace in South Sudan, community education, cross-cultural relations among different ethnic groups in South Sudan, and artistic development. In conducting my summer immersive under the guidance of the LWF, I find myself building strategies for enhancing sustainable music making for post war recovery and peace in South Sudan.

Learn about all the projects from the Pitch Your Own Summer Immersive Opportunity for Ph.D. Students