The Jasper United Church will get a taste of modern Africa when the Watoto Children’s Choir takes to the stage, June 1.
This dynamic choir of 18 Ugandan orphans accompanied by 10 adults is currently touring Canada with its Oh What Love production, raising awareness and money for Watoto Child Care Ministries, a charity program which provides orphans and distressed women with support.
The choir’s tour kicked off at the beginning of the year in Ontario. Since then the children have been performing a show almost every day.
“We’re just coming into the homestretch now, but it’s been a really successful tour so far,” said the choir’s tour coordinator Abby Paterson. “They work very hard, but they have a lot of fun and we make sure to take rest days and allow the children to do some exploring and have some awesome experiences.”
For the choir’s younger members, arriving in Canada back in January was the first time they’d ever left their home country.
“They’re loving it,” Paterson said. “Before they left they had six months of cultural training so they were prepared.”
Despite the seriousness of Watoto’s mission, Paterson said the show always proves to be a fun evening out.
“This specific tour is quite upbeat—quite modern. It’s kind of representing the new Africa as oppose to the traditional Africa, which is what our past shows have been,” Paterson said. “We want to show that Africa is modernizing with the rest of the world.
“It’s actually pretty moving. For myself I was in tears within a minute of watching it.”
While most of the original song and dance combos are buoyant, Paterson said the audience can expect a few sombre tunes.
Along with spending six months in cultural training, the choir also spent those months rehearsing for the tour.
“We’ve gotten so many comments about how talented and polite the kids are, but we’ve also gotten comments about how much hope they seem to have,” Paterson said.
Since 1994, the choir has travelled all over the world sharing the plight of Africa’s orphaned and vulnerable children. The international tours have become Watoto Child Care Ministries’ biggest fundraiser.
Each year, the choir changes its members allowing other Ugandan orphans the opportunity to participate.
Some of the choir’s most notable shows throughout the years include performances at the White House and Buckingham Palace.
Each show—including the one in Jasper—operates on a donation system along with merchandise sales. There will also be sponsorship information available at the show.
The money goes towards providing schools, medical clinics and a safe water supply for orphans and struggling mothers in Uganda.
Oh What Love will be in Jasper, June 1, at the Jasper United Church starting at 7 p.m.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
