The African Children’s Choir has travelled North America for the last five months, sharing with Americans and Canadians the variety and richness found throughout the continent of Africa through the voices and smiles of its greatest asset – its children.
The organization was started in 1984 by its president, Ray Barnett, who was in Africa at the time completing missionary work.
“This was during our civil wars and he had been drawn to Africa, specifically to Uganda, because of the orphans that had been a result of the civil war. But it was also because of the AIDS epidemic that had hit Uganda in the ’80s and had devastated so many families,” choir chaperone and former member Anthony Samanya said. “He was looking for a way to help kids that had been affected by all of this.”
Barnett was working at one of the churches when a decision changed the course of his life and career. “He gave a lift to one of the boys, they were just in a truck and this boy started singing,” Samanya said. “Barnett got the idea and the vision of starting up an African Children’s Choir and he thought, ‘What if I took children to the West to raise awareness through music and dancing and raise awareness of what is happening back home?’ ”
Barnett did just that and the first choir came to North America in 1984. Since then, 41 choirs have come and gone. Over 7,000 children from several African countries are currently being provided for through the organization.
The African Children’s Choir performs on June 20 in the Canmore Collegiate High School theatre.
“I myself was blessed to be in one of the choirs when I was 10 and I went back home in 1987 and was able to finish my education and graduated with my degree in economics and that is what we are here for – for these children,” Samanya said. “The organization is basically looking at equipping them with skills through education.”
The children travel aournd the globe and eventually return back to one of the African Primary Children’s Schools in Uganda, where they are offered the opportunity to pursue an education.
“There is a part in the concert where the children say what they want to be, we have children who want to be doctors, engineers, lawyers – we have one girl who wants to be a prime minister,” Samanya said. “The whole thing is these dreams can be realized and the organization is committed to educating them, so once the child comes to our program they have free education throughout college. That’s what happened for me and that’s what will happen for these children.
“Our organization operates in seven different African countries. We’ve taken choirs from Kenya, from Rwanda, from Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa and we’re also working in Sudan – a choir hasn’t travelled from Sudan as of yet, but they have from all the other countries, so it is made up of different children from different countries of Africa.”
Most of the songs the children will perform are African cultural dances with a mixture of harmonies in all the songs they perform, showcasing how rich the African culture is through the power of song and dance. “If you come to our concert you will see pop songs and we have drumming and a variety of African dances,” Samanya said.
“This organization is awesome and has been here for 30 years and I’m a testimony to the organization, so I encourage people to come see the children perform. Your life will not remain the same.”
