John Obalim came to London from Uganda. He is chair of the Lwo Cultural Group, a community organisation which aims to maintain and promote Lwo cultural heritage, by performing traditional music and dance.
John Obalim (left) performing with the Lwo Cultural Group
Photograph by Museum of London
‘The feeling within our community for what the group is doing is really great. During our major festivals they bring children, who are growing up in this community here in the UK, children who were born here, to see their culture. And also we have elderly people here. We have also already intermarriage with other communities in the U, so when we have an event other people come, not just Ugandans or Acholi people, they come to connect with us. And the group is also connecting with other communities. We are invited for weddings, we are invited to perform at community events organised by local authorities, by NGOs and by other organisations and individuals. So that way we are actually not only presenting our culture to our own people but also to the wider UK community… The most recent event which actually has excited members of our community and also the wider UK society is when the Lwo Culture Group performed at the inauguration of the Archbishop of York. That was really a great day because people watched it on TV, it was in the news, running over three days, all the papers actually had photographs of the Lwo Culture Group performing and also of the Archbishop of York joining in the Bwola dance. So that really gave the group and also our community a very very good image. And at the moment the group is actually enjoying overwhelming support, you know it is looked at very positively.’
Refugee Communities History Project, courtesy of the Evelyn Oldfield Unit and Museum of London
