Children

Children are the future of tomorrow.

Let us teach them about other people's cultures and ways of living... Give them an open mind about their surrounding and things outside their environment.
When you educate a child, you are improving the quality of his/her future.

Biri Biri works with children of all ages. I am a mother myself and there is no greater joy than that of raising your child. I teach my child about my roots in Uganda and try to incorporate this in his day to day life. This includes teaching him politeness, greeting before being greeted, always be grateful and complain less, always respect anybody older than you. It is a step by step activity but it works out successfully.

Children are very curious about themselves and also what surrounds them. They are willing to learn new things and can grasp much faster than adults.
When a child learns about other people's cultures, they learn tolerance. Because to be tolerated, you have to learn tolerance.

There are several advantages of teaching a child with Biri Biri.

1) They learn about the different ways other people live (i.e the people of East Africa). They also learn about how kids in the East African region live and interact with each other.

2) They get to know that as human beings, we are not any different. Just like flowers in a garden, they are of different colours, origin, formations and sizes but are still flowers. They are all special and the many colours make the garden more beautiful.

3)They learn to tolerate the different. Just because something is not exactly what you are used to, does not mean it is wrong or negative. You might think your neighbour is "different" but maybe your neighbour also looks at you as strange. If we do not have tolerance, we are stuck in the same areas and may not move forward.

4)Not only are the children teachings at Biri Biri educative, they are also very enjoyable. The children workshops are very interactive for instance there are painting/drawing lessons, story telling, crafts making, short films, dancing sessions, dressing up and so many more.


This was at a book reading session at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam on 14th October 2012 at the Kinderboekenweek. The museum hired me to do some research on children folk stories in Uganda. I worked in the "Verhalen uit Afrika" section and read several stories to different children.  The challenge was to find stories that were suitable for children and had a universal moral message. In a way that any child from any country would not only understand the message behind the story but also enjoy it.

Hello World

Biri Biri is a business that wants different people of different ages and types to enjoy and experience Uganda and East Africa in both educational and enjoyable way.

I teach people in Netherlands/Europe who are interested in East African culture, this can be tourists, children, travel agencies, companies within Europe or the Netherlands that want to expand their market in Africa, people planning to work in East African region or just individuals that are interested in the culture and the way the natives live.

Biri Biri means "two by two" in my native language; Luganda. It is a one man business that was started by myself in June 2012.

I have traveled a lot during my study period in Europe and have experienced different cultures. I thought with my knowledge of my own culture and also Netherlands being the only European country where I have stayed long enough to study the culture thoroughly. I decided to do something with this knowledge. I wrote a book about my experience of both Ugandan and Dutch culture for my graduation at the Rietveld Academie titled, “Short Stories and No Letters”.

Inspired by the book, I decided that this subject, building a bridge between the Netherlands and East Africa, should be the core of my business. I love to teach people about East African culture in different ways. For instance about the do's and don'ts, what is expected of a man/ woman in society, the celebration of the first born child, initiation ceremonies, weddings, games children play, cooking, dressing up for different occasions and so much more.

Realising that the Netherlands is very involved with East Africa in terms of fundraising, aid and also agriculture wise (fish, coffee, cacao and flowers). So there is already a connection, but it came to me that not many people actually knew much about East Africa even though they were involved with it. So it came to me that there’s a business opportunity!

In order for someone's business to thrive, you have to know your market or the people you are dealing with. In my culture, it is very easy to offend people with the slightest gesture or facial expression. But to many that have not grown up there or do not know the culture, this may not be the case. This is where my input is very useful because I can bring the two parties together together.

Also when you are going for holiday in Africa or the tropics, there can be many things you might know but not in detail or precisely. Even if you are planning on a short visit, you will interact with locals. For instance it is internationally known that we greet with the right hand but in some cultures in Africa, shaking an elder's can be interpreted as disrespectful by the natives.

Learning another culture is always very interesting, you get to know the similarities we have as human beings but also the differences that make us special. I believe that much as people may love to learn about East African culture, it is also very important that we teach our children too. Children are the future of tomorrow and if we teach them to appreciate others just like they do to themselves, we will educate a nation. And by nature children are very curious to know what is outside their environment.