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My Journey Back to Montreal


I recently returned from a three day trip to Montreal where I hosted an event organized by "Ishaka", a Burundian traditional dance group from Ottawa. This is the second time that these ladies have asked me to be the MC of their event.

The trip was also an opportunity to get away from the usual and get a little bit of rest.  The event was phenomenal. It was close to perfection. The group's preparedness, their professionalism and their excellence made me feel proud to be Burundian. I have hosted many events over the past years, but I have never experienced anything like this. I had the opportunity to work with backstage producers, sound engineers and stage managers...It was a blast!

The beautiful Theatre Outremont was full to capacity and the crowd was really into it. The music and the dances were well performed by the young ladies with their beautiful smiles. I could tell they were having fun.

As I arrived early to the venue for the rehearsals, I was moved to tears while watching them perform a Burundian traditional dance over Bob Marley's song "One love". Wow! It was something.  When the real show was about to wrap up, my good friends Nicolas and Kijanya performed a song accompanied by the famous Burundian drummers. Man, I can't stop thinking about it. It was a great moment.

From what I could see, these ladies took their passion very seriously. They worked long and hard and asked for help when needed. Most of all, they worked perfectly as a team with no ego involved; and if I am not mistaken, this is the recipe for success. Find a passion, work hard, have fun while doing it, be humble to ask for help when needed and shoot for excellence. Ishaka does it, and they do it so well. 

Thanks a lot ladies for your inspiration. You made my day on Saturday!

Moral of the story? How about you tell me?

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