Shuka Muhoza and Gordon Shaw get ready to practise their conga dance ahead of this Saturday’s (8 Feb) Beats and Eats Fest at Noreuil Park in Albury. Photo: Supplied.
Can you imagine being part of a 1000-person conga line?
The Rotary Club of Albury Hume is inviting people to do so this weekend to raise funds for Congolese refugee children at the Beats and Eats Fest at Noreuil Park.
“A Conga for the Congo” is a free family event to be held on Saturday 8 February between 5 and 9 pm and organisers hope to encourage festival goers to join in a fun filled night by the river while contributing to the cause.
Albury Hume Rotary’s Gordon Shaw said the funds raised would be sent directly to the Muhoza Shuka Foundation in Nairobi to pay for much needed items and fees for refugee children to attend school.
In 2023-24, the club raised more than $60,000 for the foundation and in 2025 another $11,000 in funding has gone towards paying for term one school fees and materials for more than 100 primary and secondary schoolchildren.
The foundation was established by members of the Banyamulenge tribe now living in Albury.
Shuka Muhoza and his family became refugees in Kenya after fleeing the violence and massacres in the Congo in 2009.
“The government was offering free education for primary school students but once they were done, secondary school was very hard,” said Shuka.
“There was a very big problem with secondary and university students because there was no money to pay the school fees,” he said.
“So, the youths would start taking drugs, doing prostitution and joining bad groups and I wanted to try and help find a way to support them to get into school.”
Shuka started a soccer group and a drum dancing team and approached Kenyan churches. Through his efforts they went on to help 53 students into secondary school. When he gained a visa to come to Australia as a refugee in 2016 he was able to continue the fundraising with new connections made with a church group and Albury Hume Rotary.
“The number of refugees continue to increase,” he said.
“There is a very, very bad war in our country; the people there are still running to Kenya and Uganda. Now we have a very big number to support.
“When I went to Rotary and met Gordon and told them what was going on they said they would support us as much as they could.
“I’m so happy about what they do, they are supporting us in any way they can.”
The Rotary club joined forces with Shuka in January 2023 and has staged three major fundraising events so far.
“It’s hard to believe that the violence in the Congo has been going on for decades and Banyamulenge refugees continue to pour into neighboring countries, including Kenya,” said Gordon.
Happy kids in Kenya receive their textbooks and other materials for school through funds raised by the Albury Hume Rotary Club and the Shuka Muhoza Foundation. Photo: Supplied.
While many refugees around the world flee to refugee camps, the attacks on the Banyamulenge people continue in the camps and massacres have happened on several occasions, in Burundi and Uganda in particular.
“The UN refugee agency encourages the Banyamulenge to go to the larger cities, such as Nairobi, rather than to the UNHCR refugee camps. However, this means they don’t have access to ration cards, skills training or the education offered in the camps.
“Secondary school is not free so fees of about $2000 per student must be paid each year.”
This is where Rotary seeks to help.
“We have already held several fundraisers since we began and we had some big individual donations in 2024; the Beats & Eats Fest will be our fourth event,” said Gordon.
“Most recently we held a Sara Storer concert on the banks of Lake Hume at the property of Margo and Peter Hore at Bowna who have been incredibly generous in their support. Sara was also wonderful and donated her time and more than 200 people came along.
“We are hoping to get at least 1000 people along this Saturday. We’re not sure how many of them will get up for a conga line but we are hoping it will be so long you could see it from space!”
Festival goers can enjoy the sounds of Pat and the Kats and quench their thirst at the “Beats Bar” which will be serving up local craft beers, wine and cocktails. There’ll be food stalls providing authentic African dishes, Greek inspired souvlakis, wood-fired pizza, pulled brisket and of course the traditional Rotary sausage sizzle.
Bring a chair or a picnic blanket. Eftpos is available at the bar and dogs are allowed on a lead away from the food area. For more info visit Beats & Eats | Facebook.
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