African Children's Choir

In a midst of multiple genocides and civil wars in Africa, the African Children’s Choir made a stop on Tuesday at Cache Valley Ellen Eccles Theater on their “journey of hope” to raise money and make Africa a better place.
Journey of Hope is the 25th tour of African Children’s Choir, a daughter organization of Music for Life Institute, a humanitarian relief and development organization dedicated to the survival, education and well being of Africa’s children.
“Civil war, genocide, poverty and corruption have needlessly turned tens of thousands of children in Africa into orphans,” says the president of Music for Life organization Ray Barnett. “Children should never have to face these atrocities but they can be pulled from these ashes to become the solution for a better Africa.”
25 different choirs made of “the neediest and most vulnerable children in Africa” have toured to different countries to present African culture to the world and raise money to improve the lives of their fellows since 1984. Over 30 schools and 7,000 children in Africa are now supported due to the benefits of African Children’s Choir.
Africa as a continent has a literacy rate of less than 60 percent. The fundamentals of the Music for Life are based on the belief that providing children at risk with education and hope today, the global village can help advance Africa tomorrow. The organization makes sure that the members of the choir attain education after returning home.
Victor is from Uganda and was once a member of African Children’s choir.
“I never knew my father,” he says. “My mother could not afford taking care of me and she had to take me to an orphanage. I was blessed to be chosen to join African Children’s Choir. I was once one of the most vulnerable children in Africa. Now I have a college degree in Social Sciences and Development.”
Children are recruited every year. Most of them don’t have one or both parents. Going to school is a luxury for them.
Proscovia is a former choir member. She now volunteers for Music for Life and has a college degree in Communications.
“When I was 8, I had malaria,” she says. “I was living with my grandmother because my mother couldn’t afford taking care of me. My grandmother had to take me to a city and leave me at a hospital.”
Proscovia survived malaria. At the age of 11 she was chosen to be a member of the 13th choir.
“I had to walk barefoot to school every morning. The school was 6 miles away. Sometimes it rained. Sometimes it didn’t. But I knew it was worth. I wanted to get education.”
Proscovia recalls her first visit to the United States as a choir member.
“I thought I was going to die,” she says. “At home we are told that ghosts are white and they have long hair. When I saw all these girls with long hair, I thought that the ghosts had surrounded us.”
A former choir member Ben recalls his story.
“I thought we are going to America through water. I didn’t know how to swim and I was scared. I talked to one of the volunteers. She said we were going by plane. I relaxed.”
With 4 out of 10 children illiterate in Africa, the continent is doing better than in previous decades. Started as a one-time project, African Children’s Choir continues to raise money to drop illiteracy rates.
“We have come a long way,” says Music for Life president Ray Barnett. “And we still have a long way to go. We’ve always believed that mountains can be moved one child at a time. These children represent the beauty and dignity of Africa and hold the key to Africa’s future.”