Jewish Life in Uganda Tour

[Laura Wetzler <laura...>]

Shalom !
If anyone is interested in receiving information on an exciting trip The 
Jewish Life in Uganda Tour, Jan. 28-Feb. 11, 2004, sponsored by The 
Abayudaya Jewish Community of Mbale, Uganda in a joint venture with 
www.volcanoessafaris.com, please contact me off list and I will send 
attachments with detailed information. The tour includes hotels, meals and 
fully guided site seeing to beautiful African national parks, as well as 
shabbat hospitality and volunteer opportunities. It is an unique chance to 
truly get to know the community.
I will be going on the trip and there  will be many chances to hear and 
study Abayudaya Jewish music, jam with African Jewish musicians, tour the 
countryside with them and support this remarkable Jewish community. It 
promises to be the trip of a lifetime and I hope you can come.
I first heard of the Abayudaya community  on an NPR report in 1995; we 
connected and I started singing their songs in concerts at that time.

When I am not on the road singing (even when I am!) I am part of an 
all-volunteer, not for profit Jewish organization called www.kulanu.org. I 
serve as the  Kulanu Coordinator for Uganda, overseeing several mitzvah 
projects with the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda, including raising money and 
sending supplies for  their 2 Jewish day schools, water, solar electricity, 
micro-credit, library, tourism projects, scholarships and more.

My drummer, Robin Burdulis and I visited the community in 2002 and it was 
one of the most moving experiences of my life. This Bantu Jewish farming 
community in eastern Uganda has been practicing Judaism for 80 years 
(shomer shabbat, kashrut, brit milah, mikvah, holidays, torah study etc.) 
and struggled enormously, through Idi Amin and crushing poverty, proudly 
maintaining their Jewish identity through thick and thin. They live  in mud 
structures with mogen dovids and other Jewish symbols painted on the 
outside, peacefully amongst Christian and Moslem neighbors;  no running 
water and no electricity.
300 members of this 600 member community  were formally converted according 
to Halacha by a bet din of Conservative rabbis in 2002.
No, Israel has not yet accepted them, even though they have been persecuted 
as Jews for 4 generations- many of us don't realize it took almost 20 years 
of work to get the Ethiopian Jews to Israel. (Don't get me started!) More 
Info about the community at: www.kulanu.org

My friends, J.J. Keki and Gershom Sizomu, sing JJ's musical setting of 
L'cha Dodi with me on my CD Kabbalah Music: Songs of the Jewish Mystics.
They have their own CD, Shalom, Everybody, Everywhere, available from 
www.kulanuboutique.com. Kulanu sells  their hand-crocheted kippot, and 
tallitot. as well as their CD, to raise funds for the community. Richard 
Sobol and Rabbi Jeffrey Summit have published a beautiful photography book 
called the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda, Abbeville Press 2003, which includes a 
music CD with annotation, also available at the boutique site. All proceeds 
from all projects and crafts go directly to the Abayudaya community. We are 
all volunteers.

Please consider coming on this amazing trip and passing the word to others 
who might be interested.
Thanks!
Laura (at) laurawetzler(dot)com
www.laurawetzler.com