Dear EarthBeat Music Family,

As we head into a weekend of community action and remembrance of the great Martin Luther King Jr, amidst the regional and international chaos and fear-mongering that we are doused with every day, I have some positive updates to bring to your inbox. Let them serve as a reminder that collectively we can create profound change in and beyond our beloved community.

In December we passed our fundraising goal for the Bolokada & Friends Village Project! The money went directly to finishing the doctor’s house adjacent to the medical center in Morowaya, Guinea, West Africa. Here is a note of gratitude:

Dear Chelsie and EarthBeat Music Community,
I want to express our sincerest gratitude for your very generous donation of $2,260 to Bolokada and Friends Village Project Inc 501(c)3. Without donors like you we would not be able to accomplish as much as we have over the past 10 years.  Thank you for believing in our mission and helping us make a positive impact in a little village on the other side of the world. You are invited to follow our progress on Facebook or at our website: https://www.bolokadafriends.org.
Sincerely yours, Carla Pomprowicz

Image below L to R: Sayon Camara, Grant Ellerbeck, me, Bolokada Conde | October 2023

Many of you also contributed to our huge drum circle fundraiser at the end of the Summer to aid in reuniting Namory Keita with his wife and children. Namory’s wife moved from Guinea to Maine in the Fall, and I JUST received a message from Namory that his childrens’ visas are all in order and they are moving to Maine in the next few days! Please keep Namory’s family in your thoughts and prayers. We wish them safety and refuge in this tumultuous time. If you feel moved to send his family a monetary gift of any size to help with this next step, please send me a private message and I will share how you may do that.

And while we are talking about our amazing visiting Master Drummer mentors, I want to send a collective hug to Sayon Camara who will be moving back to his native village in Guinea from Bath, Maine in February. On a personal note, his wife Lev Camara - a dear friend and inspiring mentor to me - passed in November. I will always remember her as strong, creative, joyful, intentional and peaceful. The love she and Sayon shared was truly radiant!

Sayon is liquidating his West African instrument collection before he leaves, which includes many authentic handcrafted djembes. If anyone is interested in more information, please drop me a line and I will send you an inventory list that his wonderful colleagues have shared with me.

Sayon Camara | October 2023. Photo by Joy Makes Art.

Next week I will share a more thorough GRATITUDE RETROSPECT, reflecting on the bounties of November and December, especially around the Farewell to 90 Broad Street programs. In early February I will annouce all of my Spring drum-strum-dance-sing offerings and their locations. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I am thrilled to be strumming and drumming with so many of you in Resilient Strummers (16 participants) and Resilient Drummers (31 participants) as well as in the Frame Drumming for the Absolute Beginner class series at the SSPL (19 participants)!

Make sure to mark your calendars for these other special Winter haps brought to you by our extended drumily…

February 1 | Midwinter Drum Circle @ SSPL with Kali
February 7 | 4th Annual Winter Lantern Festival & Stroll on Beekman Street with Frank, including a Rhythm Circle with yours truly (see flyer below)
February 14 + 15 | West African Drum + Dance Workshops with Seny Daffe @ Flurry Festival

PLUS these community drum circle opportunities!

Wednesdays weekly, 5:30-6:45 pm
Albany Drum Circle @ Honest Weight Food Coop with Dan
Email Dan for more info!

Thursdays in January + February , 1:30-3:00 pm
Winter Drumming Meet Up @ Wilton Mall with Linda
Email Linda for more info!

Every 3rd Saturday beginning February 21, 10:00-11:00 am
Drum Circle @ Stillwater Public Library with Sharon
Email Sharon for more info!

Love Chelsie