Return to Ghana: Calabash Drum

Hi, my name is Regina and I am fundraising to help me return to Ghana after 15 years since I first went to learn traditional drumming in my 20s for over ten years. This trip will be the first one of the year to plant the seeds for my new offerings for 2024.

On this occasion, I will research and document the history of the Calabash drum in the Ghanaian culture and produce an online course to initiate you into the power of this drum and learn basic techniques and pulsating rhythms. Also, I will make my first order of Regina's Calabashes to bring them into the global community and teach the power of this ancient African drum that can help us unite in rhythm. It will all culminate in a cultural and educational retreat in Ghana at the end of 2024 to unite us all as we immerse in the greatest energy of Mother Africa.

The Calabash is a gourd played as a drum by women in the North of Ghana and also accompanies the Kora player in Senegal. Spiritually it symbolises the cosmic feminine's womb and they believe there is a direct connection to the source of creative power when it is played.

The Calabash drum offers a holistic meditative practice that enhances well-being for the mind-body-spirit: It grounds and roots your energy, connecting your heart to the heartbeat of Mother Earth. It brings you into full presence, liberating you from the busy monkey mind. It releases stress and tension stored in the system leaving you feeling relaxed, balanced and uplifted. It opens the channel that connects you to the cosmic womb to the source of your creative power.

Your donation will help me pay for flights, accommodation, internal travelling, teachers and elders fees, and technical support (sound and video). Part of the trip will be travelling to the villages to meet elders to document the history of the Calabash directly from the source. The research and documentation will be part of an introductory course on the history and playing of the Calabash.

I am deeply grateful for your generous heart and drop of love to make this new chapter of my life an adventure and the next stage of Sacred Rhythm School to keep on sharing with you all the power of rhythm to unite us all as one.

With love and rhythm.

Regina