AFRiCAN DUNDADA

Who is African Dundada?

To me, he is a celestial visionary who I also know as Mark Otim. His initials are fitting with his Modus Operandi an intention of bringing more smiles to faces in a world that obviously prefers the corners of their mouth to levitate rather than to have them pulled down by the strings of identifying strictly with worldly form. Sadly, we are inundated with negative reminders.The negativity starts inside our head with expectations rooted in folly combined with illustrious illusions that we are too small to matter; simultaneously thinking we are greater than everything else- a conditioned belief implemented from childhood that we are separate. African Dundada adamantly embodies a knowing we are all connected to something much bigger than ourselves; however, with the caveat that nothing is greater because we all are extensions of this divine consciousness tethered to a metaphysical realm. We are the physical manifestations of Good (God with a pay increase- one more 0). African Dundada believing we are spiritual beings having a human experience and not the other way around.

Mark Otim, more notably known as African Dundada, is a renaissance man who passionately evokes an awakened state within making a path of least resistance towards an acknowledgment of Higher Self consciousness for the betterment of others through his music, activism, and philanthropy. Hailing from South Sudan, Africa, Mark Otim was born to the Acholi tribe Pajok- a community in Eastern Equatoria state of South Sudan, 24 miles south of Magwi- near the border of Uganda. M.O. is no stranger to hardships spending his formative years in a refugee camp when his parents, eight brother's and sister's fled to Uganda. Meanwhile, his father courageously traveled to Kenya to find a more permanent living solution for his beloved family. M.O. morphed into African Dundada during these eight years only knowing life in this camp. Distinct reflection and recollection of those times of despair and hunger keeps the embers white hot to manifest his fire for music- synonymous for helping those in need.

"You must strive to find your own voice because the longer you wait to begin the less likely you are to find it at all." -Dead Poets Society.
This quote time-stamps me sitting on a jagged rock adjacent to African Dundada with the ocean reflecting the sun behind us in Portland, ME. He vividly told me the inception to his main motivation for possessing his insatiable passion for music. Dundada, with genuine vulnerability, expressed solemnly that the vast majority of his family stutters when they speak. Mark has found his voice for the voiceless- initially starting out representing his family and now expanding to those who are starving literally as well as for hope. Embarking on a revolution of evolution for mindfulness and positive change through music. Being his families voice through positive purpose. The way music speaks what cannot be expressed, I cannot express how admirable African Dundada's quest, through his music, to raise awareness and resources for the millions still struggling to survive in the fractured aftermath of the conflicts and ever present shortage of food, supplies, education, and opportunities for all of Africa.

It was written, "music is a more potent instrument than any other for education, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul." -Plato


By Patrick Fogarty