African Children’s Choir: Touching lives with song and dance

The decision to give a shabby looking boy strolling from his village in Luweero Triangle, in the 1980s a lift was not unusual for a humanitarian worker given the insecurity then.

Neither was the boy’s decision to show his gratitude by singing a song for his Good Samaritan.

But what will forever remain extraordinary is how that incident changed the life of that boy, the man and countless of children from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.

It laid the foundation for African Children’s Choir, which at 30 years this year, is arguably the most famous African children’s choir in the world.

In the middle of despair, the boy’s song revealed a glimmer of hope, a reminder of the beauty and dignity of this boy and his people, a thing that touched the heart of Ray Barnett.

“When I went back to Canada and people were not interested in Uganda, I remembered the small boy. I knew that if only a group of these beautiful children could travel to the West, people would be deeply moved and would certainly want to help,” Barnett, recalls.

In April 1984, Barnett and a team of volunteers travelled back to Uganda to select 31 vulnerable children who would become the first African Children’s Choir.

How it all started
“Getting passports for the 31 children was next to impossible in Uganda at that time. With the help of the then Ugandan prime minister Allimadi Otema, we worked with the US embassy in Kenya to get all the travel documents. I travelled with the children to Kenya in a bus and when we got there, a Good Samaritan accommodated us. Through a lot of prayer and faith and hard work, I was able to get the passports, air tickets and visas for all the children after six months.”

In late September 1984, the choir arrived in North America and achieved more throughout their tour than Barnett could imagine.

It inspired audiences with their stories through Christian music, dance and drama and raised enough funds to open a children’s home in Uganda.

It provided a stable environment and a quality education for the choir children and additional children who needed care.

Jessica Nansamba Katumba, who was part of the first choir of 17 girls and 14 boys that travelled to Canada, recalls the excitement of setting foot on a plane for her very first time was all that made life joyous. “When we reached Canada, many people welcomed us and took us into their homes.

We hugged unlike in Uganda at that time when hugging in our culture was prohibited,” Nansamba, who was then 11 years old in Primary Six, recollects.

She currently works as the Child Support Coordinator at Africa Children’s Choir.

Creating a wide network
While Barnett had thought of the choir as a one-time endeavour, the choir’s instant popularity and the ongoing needs in Uganda then convinced him to continue with choir works.

In 1985, a second choir was selected from an orphanage home in Makerere, Kikoni and the African Children’s Choir began another tour. The choir’s success meant it was able to provide for many children beyond those in the choir.

Over the next years, six more homes were established to cater for vulnerable children, many of whom had been orphaned by the liberation war that left many unable to attend school.

It established a number of special literacy schools where the children learned how to read and write and gained confidence and skills.

The organisation next established a sponsorship programme to help the children move further in their schooling.

Donors and well-wishers were now able to help students from the literacy schools continue with their education at regular primary and secondary schools.

Later in 1990, African Children’s Choir spread its wings and opened in Kenya and in 1994, it opened in Rwanda. In 1996, it opened another branch in current day South Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.

Currently, the African Children’s Choir is made of 44 choirs, each with between 17- 24 members, both boys and girls aged between 7-15years.

My life was changed
Moses Zimwanguyiza recalls that he and his brothers, Robert Kalyesubula, Fred Semitala and Gerald Sekabembe were supported by the choir following their father’s death during the 1984 Luweero Triangle war.

He was 10 years old in Primary Three and part of the second choir that was destined for Canada via Amsterdam.
After landing in Canada, Zimwanguyiza says; “everything was not as I had perceived it. The impression we gave to someone portrayed what Uganda was like at that time,” he recounts.

He and other colleagues stayed at a Bible College where they had their studies and they had to get accustomed to winter.

On Sundays, the college was a church and on other days, it was a playground where they played indoor games such as football.

“We also experienced challenges adopting to food like hamburgers, chicken, spaghetti and other mixed foods, compared to Uganda where we fed on posho, matooke and beans,” he says.

Zimwanguyiza, a civil engineer and Principal Partner with K3E Consultants, says the organisation instils in children Christian values of praying and having faith that everything can move by prayer.

“The exposure I got by travelling inspired me to work hard and become an engineer. Whenever I moved through underground tunnels with rivers flowing above, I always wondered how they were constructed,” Zimwanguyiza says. The floating bridge in Netherlands and the Golden Gate Bridge that is over 5km in USA all inspired him to become an engineer.

Keeping up with education

Joseph Masika, who has been at the helm of African Children’s Choir Primary School as a Headmaster, explains that after selecting the neediest and vulnerable children, including orphans from different communities, majority, if not all join and form choirs.

When they travel to different European countries to sing Christian music and dance to the Lord after training, they travel along with Ugandan teachers who teach them in the Ugandan curriculum.
“When they arrive to a given country, we send them exams, their teachers send them back for marking and send back their results,” Masika says, adding that they spend utmost 10 months abroad when they travel every year and that the money the choir makes from well-wishers and donors is used to run the organisation work without getting a coin from the children’s parents.

While abroad, it is from there that some of the children get sponsors who support them right from primary upto university level and this inspires them to excel in school.

“When a child loses a sponsor, the organisation gets them another sponsor and also follows them up when they cross to secondary where they go to schools of their choice but under the support of the organisation,” Masika says, adding that after completing school, the organisation follows up the children to know where they work.

That personal touch and bond remains between the children and organisation.

What has kept the choir going for the last 30 years, Masika reveals, is the love and care given to the children and that this makes them feel at home and not at a singing or learning institution.

“Some children come from homes where no one listens to them. Once you talk to them, they open up because there are issues they cannot disclose to their parents but prefer teachers,” he notes.

Life skills like developing the reading culture and imparting them with leadership skills has also kept the school moving forward.

The child protection policy where the children know their rights but are also taught their responsibilities has also been a driving factor to the success of African Children’s Choir.

Artiste Richard Kawesa was part of the choir

“The most rewarding thing about travelling the world in my formative years fundamentally shaped my mindset. We had a tour bus that took us across America and Canada. I remember the experience of sitting at the window seat and trying to imagine what life would be like if I was born American.

That thought always brought fear in me as I imagined I would definitely grow up as a typical Africa-American. The effect that had on me was home sickness.

The biggest challenge for me was the many times, I was selected and dropped as the best vocal choice for the choir during auditions.

The administrators felt that I was not a ‘pure orphan’ while the audition chief, Sam Kyobe, who was in charge of selecting children for the choir, was convinced that I was the gem he was looking for. I remember the Easter performance at the Hollywood Bowl in 1988 or 1989.”

The choir has appeared before the British House of Commons and The Pentagon as well as some of the world’s prestigious halls, such as the Royal Albert Hall, the London Palladium, the International Club of Berlin and the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Belgium.
They have performed with Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Paul McCartney and recorded with Michael W. Smith (A New Hallelujah.
The choir has featured on “The Tonight Show” twice and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The Choir has also recorded songs for the soundtracks of major motion pictures such as Oprah Winfrey’s Beloved Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond.
They have performed as part of American Idol’s “Idol Gives Back,” singing “You Raise Me Up” with Josh Groban and performed on the finale of “American Idol” season six at the Kodak Theatre (2007).
Some of the famous people they have sang for are former President US George W. Bush, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, President Museveni at Commonwealth Day in London, former First Lady and Senator Hillary Clinton and many others.
The choir performed with the band Dispatch for three sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The African Children’s Choir toured Australia at the Queensland Youth Symphony at Queensland Music Festival.1999
In Uganda, they have performed for quite many presidents at high profile meetings at Speke Resort Munyonyo and before the US ambassador to Uganda.
These are just a few of their special performances
- Compiled from internet