African drumbeats echo at Sharjah Children's Reading Festival

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Reliving memories of the African jungles and drummers of the Phantom comics, young children joined wholeheartedly as they mastered the rhythm and beat of African drumming at the 15th edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF), the largest celebration of knowledge, creativity, art and innovation of its kind in the region, taking place in Expo Centre Sharjah from May 1-12.

As the heart-pounding sounds of the African drum called djembe merged with the electrifying music of the dance floor, it created a fun and lively atmosphere at SCRF 2024. From learning to position the djembe between their legs to increasing the number of beats, the children had a riveting experience mastering the djembe with Ukrainian-Canadian music producer Ragimov Eduard.

“Every group of kids is different and you can actually tell if they want to have fun or do it seriously. What we basically did today was give them a sense of the rhythm of African music and knowledge of the instrument with intensive drumming. Too much drumming will hurt their hands, so I hope they will come again for more tomorrow,” said the Ukrainian artiste who has developed his own inhouse music called Lil Mishka Band and now works for an orphanage in Bulgaria.

“Djembe is one of the oldest African drums with a rich history and its legacy is unfortunately getting forgotten. By combining all instruments, we are trying to preserve their legacy.”

Eduard, who believes working among children is a blessing, called each of the young attendees “natural born djembe players” boosting their confidence and happiness.

The 12-day action-packed festival for young readers, artists and creatives as well as their families showcases millions of books including latest releases in children’s and Young Adult (YA) literature from across the globe. SCRF 2024, under the theme “Once Upon a Hero” is also offering the region’s largest platform for cultural and artistic appreciation with theatrical performances, culinary demonstrations, workshops in STEM, social media, music, and several exciting competitions, activities, animation events.

Braving unpredictable weather conditions, scores of children and families attended the 15th edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) on Thursday, filling the alleys and workshops with excitement, giggles and laughter. One of the popular workshops for children was Robot City, a 45-minute coding class, which taught kids aged eight and above how to play the classic game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ on a microbit.

“It’s Scratch! We know how to use the website,” said Fatma excitedly, as the instructor opened the website on screen to guide the students. The room was packed with over a dozen children attending the workshop. Each child worked on a dedicated laptop which was provided to them at SCRF’s world class workshop space.

“Technology is the future. We need to complement traditional learning with new tech. Teaching students from a young age helps them build logic and get a better grasp of algorithms. Learning how to code also has positive impacts on other aspects of a child’s personality. It helps them develop critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and teaches them how to work in teams,” said Safaa Al Ramal, programme manager of this workshop, who is also a coder herself.

The Brain section at SCRF will be hosting many such workshops and activities during the 12-day festival. Over the weekend this section will be hosting a Science workshop where children between the age of 6 and 12 will be able to conduct hands-on experiments making bubbling potions and erupting volcanoes. There will also be a masterclass on building robotic wonders — tall robots that walk and talk to tiny robots that pinch and zoom.

Children eager to get acquainted with the technological ropes of app development, gaming, robotics, coding, DIY physics, and circuits can look forward to learning from industry professionals in a relaxed, informal setting.

The workshops have dedicated laptops and other apparatus for all participants. Entry and participation are free; decided on a first-come, first-served basis.