Kampala — THE heavy drums have travelled far and wide. They have left footprints in places and palaces where you and I can never imagine setting foot. They have toured Europe and entertained American president George Bush at the White House.

On public holidays, you have probably seen them entering the pavilion with the huge drums which were a preserve of kings in Burundi.

The Ingoma Z'Uburundi is an assortment of huge drums which have their cradle in Burundi. It was the sound of Ingoma Z'Uburundi that brought solace to refugees who filled the tiny room at the Refugee Law Centre during the launch of the 2008 refugee survey report.

During the launch, English and Luganda, were for the first time, relegated to a distant third by French and Kiswahili among the hundreds of refugees who attended the fete.

As the chatter continued unabated, a sound so distinct, emerged from the left entry of the hall.

And then the sound of drums, like thunder, drowned the hall into a musical set piece, uncommon in the country. As people craned their necks to see the origin of the sound, a procession of 13 men carrying drums, clad in red and white with green belts, took to the stage.

The huge drums literally dwarfed the short men from Burundi, who are refugees in Uganda due to the civil war in their country.

The young men, led by their trainer, Julius Kagajo, gave an energised performance that could only be compared to Kirk Franklin's stage theatrics.

The refugees, for the first time, forgot their suffering and enjoyed a great dance by Urumuri Rw'abatimbo, a Burundian refugee dance group that is making inroads in the Ugandan traditional dance galore, which has, for a long time, been dominated by the Kiganda dance and Entogoro from Bunyoro.

Being the World Refugee Day celebration, the group danced to songs that had strong peace messages, dissuading the world leaders from politics of greed.

However, the catchiest theatrics was the jumping contest among the dancers that left the audience gaping.

It was a breath-taking performance that left the chief guest struggling to win back the attention of the audience that had been taken up by the dance.

The group showed that given a chance, refugees can enrich our culture while earning a living. When you hear the drum-carrying men coming to your neighbourhood, do not miss the show.