Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 12:12am
Choir lifts Uganda kids out of poverty
The Hope for Africa Children's Choir and Academy, conducted and managed by Lydia Namageme and directed by Tonny Mbowa, consists of 23 Ugandan children rescued from lives of poverty in displaced persons' camps. Namageme lives with the children at the United Methodist school in Nasuti, Uganda, where they are excitedly preparing for their first international tour.
The highlight of the tour will be two performances at the 2008 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, April 28 and 29, followed by performances in Arkansas, Georgia, Wisconsin, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, United Metodist News Service reported Tuesday.
Namageme and Mbowa have a deep connection with the children because the African Children's Choir, founded by Ray Barnett in 1984, also rescued them. That choir is still saving and training children and gained international recognition, performing in some of the world's most prestigious halls.
"I traveled to the U.S., Canada and Europe at the age of nine in 1986," Mbowa said. Seeing the western world and finding so many loving and caring people made Mbowa a champion of suffering children.
"I believe the children we take from here are few, but if we teach them the right ways of God—like the Bible says, 'Teach them my ways and when they grow they will never depart from them'—if we teach them love, they will bring back love to this community," Mbowa said.
The highlight of the tour will be two performances at the 2008 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, April 28 and 29, followed by performances in Arkansas, Georgia, Wisconsin, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, United Metodist News Service reported Tuesday.
Namageme and Mbowa have a deep connection with the children because the African Children's Choir, founded by Ray Barnett in 1984, also rescued them. That choir is still saving and training children and gained international recognition, performing in some of the world's most prestigious halls.
"I traveled to the U.S., Canada and Europe at the age of nine in 1986," Mbowa said. Seeing the western world and finding so many loving and caring people made Mbowa a champion of suffering children.
"I believe the children we take from here are few, but if we teach them the right ways of God—like the Bible says, 'Teach them my ways and when they grow they will never depart from them'—if we teach them love, they will bring back love to this community," Mbowa said.