A 9-year-old boy, critically injured during the Astroworld music festival stampede ten days ago in Houston, south central U.S. state Texas, died on Sunday, bringing the death toll of the tragedy to 10, his family told local media.

The boy named Ezra Blount had been on life support since the Nov. 5 tragedy, according to a report from ABC13. Ezra’s father told ABC13 last week that his son was a young fan of rapper Travis Scott.

The father said he held Ezra high on his shoulders as the countdown of Scott’s performance began at the festival. As soon as Scott took the stage, people started pushing.

The father lost consciousness and the son fell to the ground. Ezra was on life support as his major organs had been damaged and his brain had been swollen, Treston learned when he regained consciousness in hospital.

Eight victims were pronounced dead on the night of the concert.

The ninth, 22-year-old college senior Bharti Shahani, died on Wednesday. About 100 lawsuits have been filed in civil court related to the stampede, which occurred at the sold-out outdoor music festival with about 50,000 attendees. Investigation into the stampede is now underway.

Artists have been praised for the outstanding moral role they are playing in helping communities to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Peter Lewton-Brain, a British dancer and once a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Portugal and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, says the idea of social health has been forgotten during the pandemic, “yet we need social cohesion. Art is needed for social health and dance is a sign that we need social interaction for good health and wellbeing.”

And in agreement, Tripura Kashyap, a Movement Therapist / Dance Educator and Choreographer who pioneered Dance/Movement Therapy in India in 1990s, says, “It’s a misnomer that dance therapy is only for people with disabilities but it’s not. It’s for everyone.”

The movement restrictions during the pandemic have given people trauma and for artists, it affected their freedom of dancing, meeting with a community of dancers, and they couldn’t do business as usual. It affected their emotions and mental health.

These were arguments raised during discussing at the ongoing 3^rd edition of the Hamwe Festival 2021 organised by the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) taking place both physically and virtually from November 10 to 14, 2021.

The Festival is a platform that brings the health sector together with creative industries. This year, the festival will be a hybrid one, taking place in various locations around Kigali, as well as online.

On Thursday, during the launch of the festival, UGHE Vice-Chancellor, Agnes Binagwaho said that indeed lockdowns have led to many new social changes such as mobility limitations and more virtual interactions for meetings and education resulting in social isolation and mental distress. Yet, humans are not designed to live in isolation.

She added that the stress was also exacerbated by economic difficulties faced by many families, communities. “We need to come all together and find a way to save this African cultural heritage and because it could help save lives and improve our care experience, health, and wellness of our communities.” Prof Binagwaho.

Hamwe Fest 2021 taking place Kigali Library is hosting 76 speakers and artists from 30 countries, 20 performances and 16 panels addressing the impact of COVID19 and the role of art.

In his remarks, State Minister for Youth Edourd Bamporiki, who officially opened the Hamwe Fest 2021, commended the UGHE that took the lead by establishing such a festival in an extraordinary combination of health and creativity, which supports the Cultural and Creative Industry.

Excited to be celebrating creative writing this evening with #HamweFest2021 at the Kigali Public Library. Love to see it open with a beautiful 🎷 performance by the multitalented @stellatush and a conversation with @DNalonga. pic.twitter.com/NDQXLMJzZV

— Rwabigwi (@Rwabigwi) November 11, 2021

On Saturday evening, several performances were held, thrilling revelers with an unforgettable experience. Little Invisible Things, a perfect in every way dance performance told a story on the turmoil of people between different situations during the COVID-19 and play with the idea that our mental health and the person we are is shaped by the situation surrounding us. Little Invisible Things” follows Four dancers, bodies on a journey where their bodies are always in constant flux.

Several films were also screened. The films were produced to depict real experiences during the pandemic. “In this film, I wanted to highlight the healthy ways to navigate through life’s challenges. For example, the film shows the main character embracing music and dancing as a way of coping with her disappointment,” say Ines Girihirwe. Watch the film here: https://vimeo.com/645472706/db4b3051fd

“This film portrays how we’re supposed to deal with grief, loss, and challenges for our emotional well being and mental health,”Says Sharon Kalimba, the producer.

“Life went on even though the pandemic was ongoing and people looked for ways to keep social relationships alive” Sharon @uru_saro #Transient #HamweFest2021 pic.twitter.com/zJMhPFgDzZ

— University of Global Health Equity (@ughe_org) November 13, 2021

Meanwhile,the Festival also includes insightful interviews with artists and live musical performances.

For the second year in a row, Hamwe Festival is partnering with WellcomeTrust, the independent global charitable foundation, as part of Mindscapes, their international cultural programme about mental health.

Wellcome supports scientists, takes on big health challenges, campaigns for better science & helps everyone get involved in research.

Hamwe Festival embodies these values through the provision of a creative outlet where implementers and artists discuss better, more innovative ways to improve health care through the arts.

VISUALIZING THE VIRUS FILM FEATURE: Transient
By: @uru_saro

This is a dramatic narrative depicting “Uncertainty” in young people’s plans for the future due to CoronaVirus.

Showing at #HamweFest2021: Saturday Nov 13th at 6:30PM CAT (GMT +2) at @l___espac. pic.twitter.com/SuMpvkbqs3

— Hamwe Festival (@hamwe_festival) November 12, 2021

For the past one month, a new outstanding dancehall smash track called “Party Girl” has rocked radio airwaves and thrilled revelers in night clubs. It is a song that quickly drags you onto the dance floor as you also sing along.

Busy Signal has a BPM of 102 and the key of A♭ Major (Camelot: 4B).

Busy Signal is a stage name for this Jamaican dancehall reggae artist born Reanno Devon Gordon.

Dancehall star Busy Signal isn’t the face you’d usually see.

In a lengthy 1 hour and a 30-minute interview, fans certainly got an ear load about “the international man of mystery,” who said he still doesn’t answer calls from ‘unknown numbers’ and who, by the way, follows ‘0’ people on Instagram and Twitter.

“Gangsta nuh answer nuh private call,” the deejay spitted in his 2007 hit track Unknown Number, which Busy revealed to Carpenter was inspired by a series of real-life events.

“I have bad experiences with private calls … back in the day,” he said.

From fan-crazed women to insecure men incessantly calling his phone on private and unknown numbers back then, the Stay So deejay said it became too much and decided to stop answering— he subsequently linked his gold-selling producer friend Demarco and recorded the track.

Now more than a decade later, Busy admitted that he still doesn’t pick up!

The 42-year-old musician, who was promoting his new single Margarita, revealed that he’s a poor communicator; often failing to return calls and answer messages but the evolution of smartphones has helped somewhat.

Thanks to Whatsapp and FaceTime, keeping in touch with friends and family has been better, however, Busy says nothing beats “organic” in-person interaction, and linking up face-to-face to perhaps play dominoes, fire up the grill, and just hold a vibe.