ce cream is new to Rwanda. Making the business successful requires a lot of skills and changing people’s way of thinking because selling and eating ice cream is not part of Rwandan culture. The Butare shop employs nine women, who spend their spare time practicing with Ingoma Nshya, Rwanda’s first and only female drumming group, which was established by Katese ten years ago. The musicians are Hutu and Tutsi women. Some are survivors of the 1994 genocide, during which almost a million Tutsis and Hutus were killed. Some members of Ingoma Nshya are widows, some orphans. Ingabire’s father, two siblings and many cousins were killed in the genocide. “When I’m drumming, it gives me power because we’re still alive and survivors,” she says.
What does drumming do for Ingabire?
It empowers her as a survivor It is something she can enjoy with her family It makes her feel part of the Rwandan culture It provides a source of stress relief