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com
w.a f rica
Helping nc hi
Africa’s
most vulnerable
l drens ch o ir. c
children today, so they can help
www. a fri c a nc hi l dre nsc hoi r.co m
Africa tomorrow
www. a frica nchildr
esident
Ray Barnett - Founder/Pr
ildrenschoir.com
nchildrenschoir.com | www.africanch
BC V3A 4R3 | tel 604 575 4500 | fax 604 575 4511 | email info@africa da, UK and Sout h Africa
PO Box 3100, Lang ley with offices in the USA , Cana
of the Music for Life™ organization,
The African Children’s Choir™ is part
Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow
2
3 Introduction
Contents
4 Choir Selection
5 - 6 How We Started
7 What We Do
OurEditorialTeam
Executive Editors: Ray Barnett & Suzanne Nelson
Editors: Max Clements, Dawna Hodgins, Rebecca Macpherson, Maggie Owino & Michael Prins
Photography: Sarah Boonstra, Craig Peters, Michael Prins, Jamie Rainey & Kristin Schattschneider
Design and Art Direction: Maggie Owino
ContactUs
United States PO Box 29690 Bellingham WA 98228 -1690 t 877 532 8651 f 800 394 4647
Canada PO Box 3100 Langley BC V3A 4R3 t 877 532 8651 f 800 394 4647
United Kingdom PO Box 130 Sutton Surrey SMI ITN t 084 5073 0470 f 028 9266 6601
e info@africanchildrenschoir.com w www.africanchildrenschoir.com
Gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law. Music for Life is a registered charitable organization in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. In the United Kingdom, Music for Life is a company limited by guarantee and not a share capital.
Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow
3
WelcomeTo
Welcome
WelcomeToOurConcert
ToOur
OurConcert
Concert
“We are the African Children’s Choir.” Through funds generated by the Choir
tour, Child sponsorship, and Donors, Music
“We are all between seven and eleven years old and we come
from Africa. We come from very poor villages and many of us are for Life is able to run schools and programs
orphans. Our families find it hard to care for us. Children in our that educate thousands of children in
villages often do not learn to read or write because their families Uganda, Sudan, and South Africa and
cannot afford to send them to school.” provide school tuition fees for even more in
Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya.
“But thanks to your love and generosity, and the work of the
African Children's Choir our lives will be different! After our tour
we will go home to learn, grow and make it better there. Please
Your ongoing support will help
help us make life better for all our brothers and sisters in Africa.” Africa one child at a time.
Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow
ChoirSelection
4
The African Children’s Choir is made up of some of the neediest and most
vulnerable children in their countries. Many have lost one or both parents to
poverty or disease. The African Children’s Choir helps these children break away
from the everyday cycle of poverty and hopelessness.
Before being selected to join the Choir, children attend Music for Life camps. These
camps are a fun and stimulating environment for the children that provide a break
from the daily hardships they face at home. Games, crafts, music and devotions are
some of the activities the children look forward to at Music for Life camps.
Once the children have been selected, staff will spend a few days visiting the
children’s homes to determine the child’s needs and suitability for tour life. Staff
then have the difficult task of selecting the group of children who will form the
next African Children’s Choir.
ChoirTraining
Children selected to tour will spend approximately five months at the
Choir Training Academy. Here, the children learn the songs and dances,
attend school, play and attend Sunday School at a local church.
Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow
5
HowWe
W Started
We r
rted
“In Northern
rrthern Uganda, the German
Red Cross
rross estimates that over 150,000
orphans are
rre starving to death...”
In 1984, Irish-born minister Ray Barnett was on his way to a speaking Orphaned, homeless children were everywhere, rummaging through garbage
engagement in Vancouver, Canada, when the words of a radio newsflash cans and begging in an effort to stay alive. Ray was desperate to do something
caught Ray¹s attention: “In Northern Uganda, the German Red Cross to save as many young lives as he could.
estimates that over 150,000 orphans are starving to death”.
One day, while traveling some of the dusty roads of rural Uganda, Ray was
Ray was stunned and resolved to return to Uganda immediately. His human asked to give a ride to a young boy from his village into the city. The little boy
rights work with Friends in the West* had taken Ray to Uganda prior to the sang during the entire two-hour trip; that’s when the idea of a children’s Choir
civil war, when he had learned about a group of Christians being brutally was planted in Ray’s heart. “I thought if we could take a group of these
tortured and randomly slaughtered because of their religious convictions. beautiful children to the West, that would surely raise awareness and funds to
Despite the dangers, Ray had met with these ‘underground’ Christians and help them and their country.”
heard their stories of torture, “disappearances”, murder, and of Idi Amin’s
Ray acted quickly, forming a team of volunteers who approached churches
throughout Uganda to select and train 30 orphaned children for a choir.
Later that year, after obtaining government permission and passports to allow
the children to travel - a very difficult process in a war torn country - the first
African Children¹s Choir was off to tour North America. The African
Children’s Choir has been touring ever since.
Today, there have been over 35 groups of some of Africa’s most hopeful and
inspiring children, who have carried the name “The African Children’s Choir”.
TheFirstChoir
Since its inception, the African Children’s Choir has worked to bridge cultural
gaps and spread hope and joy while shining the spotlight on the desperate
plight of children in Africa.
Money raised through donations supports numerous schools that have been
established in Uganda and in other African countries over the past quarter of
a century. Donations also support emergency relief efforts to ensure destitute
children and their families receive the food, clothing, medical assistance and
counseling they need to survive and flourish.
Each year, new Choirs composed of especially needy children from countries
throughout Africa are selected. Choir children from the previous tours return
to their homelands to attend primary and secondary schools sponsored by
Music for Life Institute.
The first African Children’s Choir arrived in Vancouver, Canada, in the fall of
1984 and immediately stole the hearts of everyone they met. The Choir
After completing secondary schooling, many of these young adults continue
successfully communicated the desperate situation of the children back home
onto college and university programs, where they train to become doctors,
and by the end of the year, had raised enough money to open the Makerere
engineers, teachers, social workers or other professional leaders in Africa.
Children’s Home in Uganda. This enabled them to continue their education
and ensure they would be well cared for. Others receive vocational and technical training, developing the skills they
need to lead productive, fulfilling lives.
Originally, Ray had envisioned the Choir tour as a one-time endeavor, but the
Choir’s instant popularity, combined with the ongoing needs in Uganda,
Twenty-four years later, the African Children’s Choir has changed the lives of
convinced him and a devoted group of supporters and churches to do it again.
thousands of African children. It has also contributed to many rebuilding
Soon, another thirty children were selected for a new Choir, thus beginning a
efforts through the establishment of numerous schools throughout East and
second year of traveling and performances. Since then, there has not been a
South Africa.
day without an African Children’s Choir on the road, promoting the plight and
hope of Africa. Many of the children from the first Choirs have finished their education and
“I was used to finishing one project and then going on to the next,” says Ray, are now working with the African Children’s Choir and other relief
“but this project never ended; the more we did, the more needed to be done.” organizations throughout Africa, bringing Ray’s vision full circle.
Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow
7
WhatWeDo
Since 1984, the African Children’s Choir message has reached millions of
people across North America and Europe and as far afield as Singapore,
Australia, Malasia and Taiwan.
To date the work of the Choir has extended from its beginnings in Uganda
Nigeria
Sudan to Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Southern Sudan and most recently
Nkomazi in the northern border region of South Africa.
Ghana nourishment for their bodies and the quality of education that brings
freedom from poverty and hopelessness.
Rwanda
Kenya The African Children’s Choir has been
instrumental in financing tuition for
thousands of children who would
otherwise have no access to an education.
Uganda
district of Kampala. These children have been selected from communities
across Uganda to become the next touring Choir. They will spend
approximately five months here, learning English, catching up on school and
preparing for life on the road. If you lived next door, you would certainly know
Uganda is a special place for the African Children’s Choir. It was in Uganda
every African Children’s Choir song by heart!
where Ray Barnett first envisioned the African Children’s Choir. The first
Choirs toured from Uganda. It is where most of the Choirs are trained, and Following tour, many Choir children are enrolled at the one-of-a-kind Music
where many Choir children are raised up as Africa’s next generation of for Life Primary School. Also located in the Makerere district, this four-story
leaders. It has hosted many different relief and development projects over the boarding school addresses the special needs of former choir children during
past 25 years, and is home to hundreds of children who are supported their Primary education (Levels One to Seven). In addition to the traditional
through the sponsorship programs. Ugandan curriculum, the students receive extra training in music, computer
studies and Swahili. Students are cared for by loving staff and receive the
Some of the African Children’s Choir’s strongest outreach programs are in
physical, emotional and spiritual support needed to reach their God-given
Uganda. Over 500 children are provided a daily education at five major
potential.
primary schools located in communities in or near Kampala. These are some
Approximately 120 students are currently boarding at the school, while
of Uganda’s most desperate communities where the school programs serve
another 30 students in Primary Level One to Three are being housed at a
as a life-line to Uganda’s most needy and vulnerable. As in North America,
satellite facility in Makindye. Professional development for teaching staff is also
students in different areas experience different needs; depending on the
an ongoing priority at these schools.
school, students may be given necessities like a meal and school uniform in
addition to learning opportunities. Former Choir children graduate each year onto some of the nation’s best
secondary schools, but new students are constantly being enrolled as Choirs
All students sponsored through Music for Life are supported through their
return home from tour. Due to the success of these programs, and the
secondary education. To date, approximately 550 sponsored students attend
growth of the Choir program, a new school facility is currently under
secondary schools in their communities, with approximately 60 students
construction to accommodate the ever growing number of students. (See
further attending trade-schools, colleges or universities in Uganda. Many
page 12 for more details)
formerly sponsored children now serving their communities as teachers,
doctors, business people, and more.
Each year teams of volunteers from around the world visit the schools to
Many of the Choirs are from Uganda. There is almost always a new group of provide enrichment camps to the students and surrounding community,
children in training at the Makindye Training Center, located in the Makerere building on the Choir¹s long-term commitment to these neighborhoods.
Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow
Sudan
8
The Choir’s work in Sudan began in 1993 while the country was still in the midst of a
South Africa
The African Children’s Choir focuses its work on the Nkomazi region of Mpumalanga, a
brutal civil war, and stories of the ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’ had reached the West. The Choir north-eastern area devastated by unemployment, drought, and HIV/AIDS. The Choir is
initially stepped in with emergency food and medical supplies. Those efforts have since working to raise awareness and bring care and education to the many orphan-led families
grown. Today, the African Children’s Choir, in partnership with several other Non and afflicted children needing help in this region.
Governmental Organizations, is helping to rebuild the entire educational infrastructure of
Southern Sudan. The Choir’s work has adapted to various needs over the past decade, and has since
blossomed into a vibrant collection of educational programs and partnerships with local
Sponsorship programs help support approximately 20 primary schools and two schools. Music for Life Centers are now hubs for child development. Based on the
secondary schools in the Kajo Keji county, currently educating over 3500 children. In success of Choir program, eight Centers are currently in operation. Music and dance,
addition to raising finances for school buildings and staff, the Choir has worked to raise tutoring, life-skills training, and food are offered to over 400 children weekly.
funds for school books, equipment, uniforms, and in-service training for staff.
Visiting Music for Life Teams help
The Choir also helps operate a field staff with community
Teacher’s Training College and Skills outreach programs, such as
Training Institute - one of the first children’s camps, sports and games,
and few of its kind in the area. and family visitation. The field staff
Several hundred students are sees firsthand the uplifting effects
currently enrolled, with several this work accomplishes.
hundred having graduated since
2002. These young adults are being In March of 2008, the Choir
equipped with the ability to start opened the doors to the Music for
up new primary schools. The Life Junior Academy in
college also offers creative Komatipoort. The boarding school
professional development for trains and prepares upcoming
teachers who come from schools African Children’s Choirs from the
Rwanda
The African Children's Choir currently provides sponsorship for over 50 Rwandan Choir
Kenya, Ghana & Nigeria
Kenya - Second to Uganda, Kenya has sent the highest number of children on tour.
Since the Choir does not operate a school in Kenya, upon their return, the office staff
ensure that the children are enrolled in schools that promote academic excellence and
children, now working on their secondary and post- secondary schooling. comprehensive life skills education. They act as a parent - they make sure each child
attends school, keeps their grades up, and has the necessary supplies.
The African Children's Choir has also forged a special relationship with the Gisimba
Ghana - The African Children's Choir works together with Living Stone Christian School
Memorial Center, an orphanage in Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali. The Choir helps fund the
to ensure that 200 children living in the small coastal village of Esiama have access to an
center, providing assistance with operating costs, meals, clothing, school supplies, and
education. Prior to joining the Choir pogram, these children had been forced to drop out
medical care.
of school because their parents could no longer afford to take care of their needs.
Each year, volunteers from around the world conduct enrichment camps for the children Nigeria - The Choir has partnered with King’s Kids Primary School to give hundreds of
at the orphanage and in the surrounding communities. These camps are a time for the children in the program living in extremely poor and rural conditions, the opportunity to
children to forget their circumstances and just have fun. obtain an education.
Since the 1994 genocide that forever changed the country, the African Children's Choir In addition to covering the education costs for children in the Choir program in these 6
has also helped support the children and staff with counseling for post-traumatic stress countries, the Choir also ensures that they have food, clothing and medical care. This
disorder, provided food and supply shipments, and funded a number of community helps them both physically and academically. Camps and seminars are also held regularly
development projects to help them develop strong interpersonal and leadership skills.
Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow
9
BreakingthePovertyCycle
Education is the key to positive change for Africa. Hoping to break the cycle of
poverty, families make great sacrifices to send their children to school. However,
most schools in Africa are poorly equipped, quite often with a
student-to-teacher ratio of 100 to1.
Crowded classrooms, lack of desks and chairs is common in many schools in Africa
The children who form the African Children's Choir come from some of the
most needy families in their countries. The Choir is committed to helping these
children physically, spiritually, emotionally and academically, giving each child an
opportunity to reach their God-given potential.
Taking computer classes in Nigeria
While touring with the Choir, the children are exposed to a world of new
possibilities. Chaperones, host families and caring professionals share their wide At Music for Life Primary School - Uganda, class sizes are kept small. A team of
variety of experiences with the children, exposing them to many new ideas and dedicated teachers offers a traditional core curriculum, as well as classes in
encouraging them to dream. Computer Studies, Art, Music and Swahili. A stimulating extra-curricular
program also helps develop students’ athletic and performance skills. For
instance, the school is home to several soccer teams, and hosts Choir concerts
during the school year for students’ families and the local community. This
approach has proven successful each year as the children’s examination results
are among the highest in the country.
Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow
ChangingChildren
10
ChangingAfrica
These are just a few examples of transformed lives, made possible by the continuing care, education and development of
returning Choir children. This support is assured through the proceeds of Choir tours and the generosity of sponsors and donors.
WhereAreTheyNow?
Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow
11
The Choir children are ambassadors for all the children in Africa
who have become orphaned by the AIDS pandemic,
Each year the African Children’s Choir performs around the world showing
the beauty, dignity and potential of each African child, while shining a spotlight
Over the years the Choir has joined with other international humanitarian
projects and raised their voice at such events as Toronto’s OneXOne gala, the
Clinton Global Initiative at Carnegie Hall in New York, Nelson Mandela’s 46664
The Choir often enjoys special performances with star recording artists; some
include Chantal Kreviazuk, Josh Groban, Wyclef Jean, Mariah Carey and Sir Paul
McCartney. The Choir has recorded with Michael W. Smith, Jars of Clay, the
the Choir, taking part in events with the Brisbane Youth Orchestra, The
The Choir has even been privileged to sing for Her Majesty Queen
Museveni of Uganda.
coverage that the hope, promise and joy in these children impact and
The African Children’s Choir has seen success in its model for education,
student scholarships, and Choir programs; so much so that the current school
in Uganda is overflowing.
Originally built to house 90 children, Music for Life Primary School now has
approximately 150 students enrolled. Classroom space is tight, the dining hall
is over-crowded and the playground is a small parking lot. Students in the
lower grades have had to be moved to a satellite campus approximately 20
minutes from the main campus.
The new school will be built specifically to cater to the children’s unique
needs; the recipe for a quality education calls for more than textbooks and
desks. Highlights of the new school include:
Classrooms and Dormitories – to accommodate up to 400 children
Staff and Guest Housing – ensuring they are readily available for the
children
Choir Training Center – dedicated to the training of new Choirs
Assembly Hall & Amphitheater – meeting places for the student body,
and a hub for community events
Nursery School – offering early childhood education to the local
community
Football (Soccer) Pitch – encouraging physical education, and home to
the school teams
Garden – enhancing science lessons and providing some of the school’s
food needs
Landscaping – designed with open spaces for play and other areas for
quiet reflection or study
The new school facility carries the potential to radically alter the future of
hundreds of children each year. The children are able to live their lives full of
hope, love and the knowledge that they can make a difference: in their homes,
their communities, their countries, and around the world.
1. Be a Child Sponsor
Sponsorship is a long-term opportunity to make a difference in the life of an
African child. During the children’s school year (February to November) you
will recieve letters, written by your sponsored child specifically for you, their
sponsor. Choose a boy or girl, a specific age or a specific country. Sponsorship is
a wonderful opportunity to develop a long-term relationship with a needy child.
2. Be a Volunteer
There are a number of ways you can jump into working with the African
Children’s Choir. The most prominent opportunities include:
• Choir Chaperone: Touring with the choir for at least a year, facilitating
various tour roles and mentoring the children in their development
• Music for Life Teams to Africa: Short-term trips to either South
Africa, Uganda, Rwanda, Southern Sudan, or Kenya throughout the year.
• Internships: Either through one of Music for Life’s offices, or on tour with
special musical productions often featured by the Choir.
3. Be a Special Partner
• African Children’s Choir Primary School: This will replace the
current Music for Life Primary School which the student body has outgrown.
The new facilities will accommodate up to 400 students and will include a Choir
training center, amphitheatre, soccer pitch and Choir offices.
• Music for Life Centers: The Music for Life Centers provide after-school
programs and community outreach to vulnerable children in Kenya, Uganda and
South Africa. Your donations help with food, medical care, life skills training and
so much more.
As a Friend of the Choir, you pledge a monthly gift - in the amount of your choice
For more information on sponsoring a child, volunteering with the African
- to Music for Life. This ongoing contribution assists with Choir selection and
training in Africa, and with travel costs, medical needs and other expenses the Children’s Choir or giving to any of our current projects please contact us at:
Choir members incur while on tour and upon their return home to Africa. t 1-877-532-8651 e info@africanchildrenschoir.com or visit our website
Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow
I would like to
support the work
of the Choir
For a tax reciept, please ensure that you provide your mailing address
possible. Education is the most valuable gift I have ever received Payment Method: Cash Credit Card Check/Cheque
- it enabled me to be independent and now I can help those (Please make Checks/Cheques payable to “Music for Life Institute”)
Signature:___________________________________________________
I am interested in:
I graduated as a teacher, and have Canada PO Box 3100 Langley BC V3A 4R3
Helping Africa’s
most vulnerable
children today, so they can help
Africa tomorrow
All the quotes are excerpts from letter’s the Choir children wrote to their sponsors
Printed in Canada