Saving the lives of impoverished children and building the struggling economy of Uganda and its neighbours rolls off the tongues of the African Children's Choir.
The choir has been touring the western world for the past 30 years, melting hearts and igniting minds for the plight of the children in Central Africa. Each child in the chorus was taken from a situation of dire threat and put into a program of lifesaving education and personal development - and song.
Chaperoning the latest Canadian tour is Anthony Samanya, 29, a university graduate with a degree in economics who is applying his skills to improve his home nation of Uganda. He is volunteering his time to be one of the caretakers of the ACC kids as another way to contribute to his country - and the organization that pulled him out of desperation.
"I myself was in the choir when I was 10," he said. "We came to the U.S. and Canada in 1995. I went on through the school system after the tour, then graduated from university, and I was so grateful for those I never met but put me through school I committed to volunteering my time to help more children like I was. For me it is a contribution back to say thank you to the organization for taking me on and giving me a future. All these children on the road have the same challenges I had and all the same dreams that we know can be realized. I achieved my dream."
The choir is partly a sales force, doing performances to generate direct funds but also to meet potential sponsors to foster economic investment in the Uganda region.
It was an initiative called Music For Life begun in 1984 by Ray Barnett, an Irish Christian (now based in B.C.) who went to Uganda to help in the recovery of the country in the wake of bloody autocrat Idi Amin's rule of the nation during the 1970s.
While driving, he offered a ride to one impoverished child. The idea for the choir came in a flash as he heard that child singing with beauty and dignity on the drive to a safer place. Barnett set to work founding a singing group that could show the world, as that boy showed him, what culture and intelligence lived inside of these children. If given the chance, they could use that tool to acquire the other tools necessary to rebuild a shattered nation.
"Because of the [Idi Amin-led] war and oppression, so many parents had been killed," said Samanya. "Thousands of children were orphans. There was much homelessness and no economic system. At exactly the same time, the AIDS epidemic hit Uganda."
Through the African Children's Choir and Music For Life, more than 52,000 children like Samanya and the ones coming to Prince George have been channeled into school and nation-building careers on top of their international travels.
"It's fun to travel like this. We get to see a lot of things, but the children have such a positive experience with this, it all ties back to them," Samanya said. "Behind the curtains it is more than just this trip, or any trip, it is the education made available for all the children back home."
Uganda is surprisingly well-resourced, said Samanya. The poverty lies in a lack of leadership, since the brain-base of the nation fled or was killed by Amin in the 1970s, followed by upheaval and infrastructural paralysis after that. Leadership is required based on education and sound accountability, he explained, and the children who come through this program are expected to play a big role in that human infrastructure.
The choir tours are mostly done in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada with an increasing inclusion of Australia, Japan and other parts of Europe.
Each tour is one year in length. A new cast of about 25 kids (aged 7 to 12) begins that 12-month circuit each six months. Once that tour is over, the kids continue on together as classmates in a full-continuum education program they do not have to pay for out of their own empty pockets.
Most of the cast members are from Uganda, but the program also accepts kids from Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Sudan and South Africa.
"We get to see a lot of places, meet a lot of families, stay in a lot of homes and take home a lot of nice stories," said Samanya, and those experiences last their whole lives. "Two weeks back I met up with one of the chaperones I met as a child, and another I will meet soon on this tour. After almost 20 years, it is just amazing to see these people who helped shape me into who I am today, with my own choir to be responsible for."
The choir focuses on African cultural songs and dances but they like to mix their show up for the benefit of the audience. Samanya said "they have smiles that never go off their faces" and it isn't an act. They love what they do.
"Africans - Ugandans - are very culturally connected people. We are always dancing and singing as part of what we do every day. This is awesome to come to Prince George to bring it to you."
The group performs on July 25 in Prince George at the Evangelical Free Church (4590 5th Ave.) at 7 p.m. For more information call the church at 250-564-5889.
