 Egbe Omo Oni Isese Traditional African Association has spent years teaching people about the faith using digital platforms, with YouTube videos dating back 14 years, but wants to take the value of its music a step further. -It is the long-term goal of members of the Egbe Omo Oni Isese Traditional African Association to host an Orisha symphony. The youth NGO has spent years teaching people about the faith using digital platforms, with YouTube videos dating back 14 years, but wants to take the value of its music a step further. Egbe Omo Oni Isese Traditional African Association’s musical coordinator and secretary Sheena Ajibola Richardson is the holder of the symphony dream. She said TT’s Orisha songs are not as well-known as others across the region, and collaborating with groups across the diaspora would help spread knowledge of TT’s songs. That is why she plans to host an Orisha symphony based solely on TT’s Orisha music and hopes it could become reality in a year and a half. “As well as have our singers and drummers do this whole symphonic piece,” Richardson said. “We only see Orisha music in TT as a spiritual thing and I want to take it and the entire group to bigger stages in TT and the world.” Founded in 2009 with just four members, the NGO is now a body with over 40 members, most of whom are between the ages of 16 and 30.  Egbe Omo Oni Isese performs at the 2025 Yoruba Village Drum Festival. -In a recent Zoom meeting, founder, manager and projects coordinator Michael Olumbe Diaz, PRO, education and development officer Omoleye Afiya Diaz and Richardson spoke to Newsday about the group’s work and plans. Diaz said the south-based group is composed of members from across TT. “Our organisation aims to sensitise the local, regional and international community about traditional African drumming, music, practices. “We are not only a drumming group, but we are a spiritually-inclined group that practises the Ifa tradition, known as Orisha in Trinidad,” she said. The original group was called the Ome Orisha Team. “This grew from being four members to over 30-something members today. We also have associate members,” she said. But the organisation really took shape when several Orisha elders and cultural groups asked the organisation to support cultural events they were hosting, Olumbe said. The group has since participated in Emancipation, Carnival and international Orisha events. He said members of the group established themselves as disciplined musicians which earned them the respect of the respective communities and led to the group’s expansion. “Over the years, moving from different shrines/areas in TT, people became interested and involved… “We have different support groups of people who just assist, whether it is with videography or cultural preservation.” Olumbe said the group does a lot of cultural preservation and public education about Orisha, encourages professional development and does drum construction and repair.  Founded in 2009 with just four members, the Egbe Omo Oni Isese Traditional African Association is now a body with over 40 members, most of whom are between the ages of 16 and 30. - Photos courtesy Egbe Omo Oni Isese Traditional African Association It is head-quartered in Point Fortin and most of its rehearsals take place between San Fernando and Point Fortin. “We engage the entire group probably on a weekly basis, not only for events, but also for in-house growth and development. “Our events schedule is very packed, especially coming out of the spiritual traditions. There are spiritual events: weddings, feasts, national festivals every week in TT within different parts of the community.” During the covid19 pandemic, the group increased its online public education. “I remember during the covid19 period, we started using social media a lot more than before, and we started a pilot project with one video and that was to have a backup and a contribution to Emancipation during the pandemic when all festivals were stopped.” Even though the faith has been practised in TT for more than a century, many people are still unaware of the meanings of Orisha songs, he said. “Several of them have their influence from the French, patois and a combination of different languages. What we did, as an organisation, as part of our ongoing projects, is dive deep into the translation of the songs and putting it out in a format where it would be accepted and understood by the general public, people outside of the tradition." Olumbe said one of the ways in which the group presents new or lost information to the community is through video and the creation of social media content. “We utilise the videos to teach parts of the tradition that were misunderstood or unrecognised here in TT." Its YouTube channel shows content from thanksgivings, the Yoruba Drum Festival, its members assisting with conducting an Orisha wedding, among many other things. “We continue to build on understanding the aspects we would have lost over post-slavery, late 1800s into the 1900s. “That is one of the major ways we are, currently, ensuring that we enhance and maximise on increased communication between ourselves and West Africa,” he said. This is just the start for the trainline of projects the Egbe Omo Oni Isese Traditional African Association has on its cards. So much so, that Olumbe said there will still be things for the next generation of leaders to accomplish. The group has also partnered with other organisations like The Orisha Learning Hub to teach and lecture, spreading the information. While TT’s youth engage with the material, Olumbe thinks there is still stigma surrounding the practice of African traditions, but he believes greater sensitisation could help to combat this. “TT youths are culturally inclined, whether through spoken word (which is African tradition), to steelpan, which is also African based coming out of the freed slaves who would have settled in Belmont and what not. “In the absence of the drums that were made with skins, they would have developed the drums made of steel. The youth are engaged but we need to do more sensitisation in the community.” All the group’s work is funded by some of its associate members, but it hopes, one day, to have a sponsor. Meanwhile, the Egbe Omo Oni Isese Traditional African Association will continue its work as best as it can and will be participating in three events at the Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village. “We want to reconstruct the mindset of ourselves as well as the public, and therefore we will execute to the best of our abilities with the love and support of TT and the rest of the world,” Diaz said. It is the long-term goal of members of the Egbe Omo Oni Isese Traditional African Association to host an Orisha symphony. Youth NGO teaches African traditions in digital world - Trinidad and Tobago Newsday |
