'I believe we must celebrate our differences as well as our commonalities to have and maintain and strong global community.' -- Samite 'Kambu Angels' was inspired by an Africa that is renewing itself, the people, and particularly the children. They are the spirit at the heart of this newest album. Samite uses the strength of his voice and his playful kalimbas to weave this colorful landscape of theme and melody. It is an album about peace, renewal, forgiveness and grace, and about joy. Here is some writing from Samite about his experiences and about his album 'Kambu Angels'... I am a musician and recording artist from Uganda presently making my home in Ithaca, New York. I fled Uganda as a political refugee in 1982 when my brother was brutally killed and my own life was threatened. I spent five years in Kenya, including six months in a refugee camp, before coming to the US. In 1997 I returned to Uganda for the first time since I fled. But I did not go alone! I was accompanied by a video crew who filmed my homecoming as part of a one-hour documentary--'Song of the Refugee'--distributed by the Public Broadcasting Service in January 1998. The program focuses on displaced and resettled people in Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Rwanda and Uganda. It was inspired by a desire to present African refugees' hope for the future in spite of the suffering and loss they have endured. Media coverage during the darkest days of crisis in Liberia, Rwanda and Uganda concentrated on violence and destruction, on waves of humanity fleeing in desperation. There was no sense that these were individuals, with families and communities. With this incomplete picture, and little or no coverage of the reconciliation and healing processes now underway, it is small wonder that Africans appear helpless and hopeless to many Americans. By now Americans are accustomed to seeing throngs of refugees filing by with their few possessions on their heads, and surging crowds being beaten back with staffs as food parcels are tossed from trucks. Major networks present short video clips on the evening news of millions of displaced people in Africa and millions more are on the move within their own country. But is there more to this story? And does the way refugees are depicted influence the way Americans feel about their plight and about our capabilities to help them? And what of their countries, depicted as chaotic, irreversibly corrupted and devastated? Can we see it as anything else? The answer is yes! The documentary moves from a hopeful picture of refugees whose lives must be saved to a hopeful picture of a country that has been rebuilt in large part by refugees who survived, returned home and became self-sufficient once again. Song of the Refugee is an awareness-raising and documentary video project designed to go beyond the news clips and headlines to the unreported story of African refugees. Yes, there are millions, but until you hear the stories of individuals and know their names and see their faces, it is nearly impossible to relate to or empathize with them. My return home took me through camps and settlements of displaced Liberians, Ugandans, and Rwandans. Their stories and songs paint a new picture for the American public, a picture of the awesome triumph of the human spirit over the harshest adversity. My return to Uganda brings the program full circle--to find my home country reunited and at peace. I visited with Liberians who were internally displaced by their seven-year civil war, or who remain refugees in Cote d'Ivoire. In Rwanda, I met with refugees just returning to their villages from 'Zaire' (the Congo). In Uganda, I found that many people who were internally displaced have started new lives where they are, but many have returned to their ancestral homelands. Although I witnessed massive destruction and tragic loss of life throughout my journey, I found people getting on with their lives, optimistic that hard times will pass and life will be good again. I found Liberians rebuilding their communities and congregations, and providing educational opportun
