Join us for an exciting and energizing musical experience! Attendees will get to play one of 30 hand-carved jembe drums from the Ivory Coast and experience first-hand what it is like to be in a West African drum band. Join us at either the 10:30am or 6:30pm performance in the Bloomington Library Community Room where we’ll first learn about the culture and home life of a typical West African family while watching Fonziba Koster’s delightful documentary, Gifts from Mother Africa. The documentary focuses on Fonziba’s 2003 trip to Mali and the Ivory Coast where she spent six weeks living with the Dembele family whose traditional drummers go back 30 generations. Fonziba possesses a unique ability to teach people with little or no musical training to drum together and sound great. Within minutes, everyone is playing genuine African rhythms and grooving to the tribal beat! To be sure everyone can join in, Fonziba brings hand-held percussion instruments for anyone who might be too shy to drum, and she teaches body-percussion rhythms to play along with the drumming. Fonziba will also set up her African Home Display which contains many items used for cooking, eating, cleaning, washing, sitting, and sleeping in the average African home. This program is for kids of all ages with a parent or caregiver.