Are you interested to participate in documentation of our culture? Here is the opportunity!

Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action) invites all people from Empaako communities interested in documenting their traditions to register officially at Engabu Za Tooro offices located at Plot 18 Kaija Road, Kabundaire. P. O Box 886, Fort Portal – Uganda. Or you can call on +256 (0) 483 422 187 or +256 (0) 772 469 751 or email to info@engabuzatooro.or.ug or engabuzatooro@gmail.com.

EZT poster

According to a statement from Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action) Executive Director, Stephen Rwagweri Atwoki, Engabu Za Tooro is interested in people skilled in documentation like book writers, creative writers, professional videographers, professional photographers, visual artists, sculptors, song writers, composers, poets, ritual leaders, herbalists, presenters of cultural programs on electronic media, vernacular teachers and translators among others.

The deadline for official registration is 20^th June, 2018 and the official non-refundable registration fee is UGX 20,000 which will be put in the basket of the 20 percent community contribution since UNESCO is only contributing 80 percent for the revitalization and safeguarding of our cultures like the Empaako Intangible Cultural Heritage to enable people sustainably safeguard and revitalize their culture especially the Empaako naming system for generations.

Official announcement

The 20 percent contribution to UNESCO co-funded Empaako safeguarding and revitalization campaign is dubbed, “Tutemu engaro or Bacwezi njuna naagaawe otaireho.” Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action) is accredited to offer advisory services to UNESCO (ICH Convention).

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) adopted a decision to co-fund a two year project for the safeguarding of Empaako naming system during the 12^th session of the UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage which was held in December, 2017 at the International Convention Centre located in Jeju Island in the Republic of South Korea.

Empaako is naming system whereby in addition to a family and given name, a child is given a special name called Empaako selected from a fixed and closed list of 12 (twelve) Empaako names shared by the entire society and used as a declaration of respect, endearment or affection.

This practice has been shared and transmitted from generation to generation in Empaako communities of Batooro, Banyoro, Banyabindi, Basongora, Batuku, Batagwenda, Banyaruguru, Bagungu, Ba Nya Mboga and Baziba located in Western Uganda, Eastern DR Congo and Northern Tanzania respectively.

However, the Empaako naming practice is facing threats of extinction mostly due to decline of its mother language (Runyoro - Rutooro), modernization, abandoning our traditional rituals, weakening cultural institutions, and attack from modern religious extremist denominations. 

Click on the links below for the official announcements and the official registration form.

Official Announcement

Registration form (pg 1)

Registration form (pg 2)