About Us

When was RAD MUSIC INTERNATIONAL founded?

Rad Music International Cultural Club was founded on June 20th in 2018 by Rouddy Kimpioka, an asylum seeker living on the Island of Lesvos, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo/ Kinshasa.

”The idea to create Rad Music International came in my mind because of the living conditions inside Moria Refugee Camp. There was not communication between refugees, not connection between refugees, volunteers and locals, it was difficult to interact with people or talk to them. We were living in a small open prison and I was looking for ways to help refugees and connect them with locals. At first it wasn’t easy but with a lot of motivation and determination we come closer to our goal each day.”

Rouddy Kimpioka

RAD MUSIC INTERNATIONAL was founded in 20th June 2018 on the Lesvos island (Greece) by Rouddy Kimpioka, a cultural mediator, social entrepreneur and humanitarian worker and an asylum seeker himself. RAD emerged completely grassroots in Moria Camp, creating with the difficulty and the trauma people were facing and crafting environments for social support, creative expression and connection among people at the time that it was needed the most. Music and Dance and Educational activities became the means to reclaim dignity and joy, to cultivate confidence beyond the stigma many people were facing and build new communities.

Since 2018 RAD Music International has grown to become a collective of refugees and locals that continues to support the community needs in solidarity (for example with food and clothes) and more importantly carries on to bring together refugees, locals and international volunteers in creative processes through the universal languages of Music and Dance. As an established community-based organization, RAD is still fully refugee-led as since it was founded and it is now based in a centrally located building in Mytilene. It collaborates with numerous organizations on the island and it has also created an international community that supports it.

What is unique about RAD compared to other organizations active in Lesvos is that it has emerged from Moria Camp, it has been designed, nourished and developed by refugees and it managed to sustain itself and grow through the community that made it possible.

More specifically, it emerged as a community initiative since 20th June 2018 and it got established legally, as association cultural club, on 07/12/2021.

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Our Goal

Rad Music International’s aim is to support refugees and to fight for human rights and basic values regarding the lives of refugees and asylum seekers on the island of Lesvos.

We will all stand united to defend and demand respect for the rights of human beings. With our music and dancing we try to raise attention to this topic all over the world.

The main GOALS of RAD Music International:

1. Promote human rights and human dignity.

2. Connect people from different cultures and countries through collective music and dance processes with the aim of creative intercultural interaction.

3. Support refugees with psycho-social and educational activities. Educational activities include language classes and teaching of particular skills relevant to job seeking.

4. Bring back joy, celebrate diversity and our shared humanity with music and dance.

5. Support integration processes of refugees into the European society whilst honoring people’s cultures and heritage.