Hope springs

Ugandan orphans’ chorus kicks off worldwide tour with Mass. shows

By Taryn Plumb |  Globe Correspondent

October 04, 2012

Watoto Child Care Ministries 

Brenda Namakula is only 9 — but the things the young Ugandan has seen and suffered through belie her years.
Orphaned at a young age, she grew up in a country where poverty and corruption have been the status quo; where HIV and AIDS strike the young, old, and unborn; and where education, health care, and sustainable employment are often luxuries.
But she’s a survivor: Adopted by Watoto Child Care Ministries, she now lives with a caring family.
Hers is a story of hope — and it’s one that she’ll share with thousands of people over the next several months as she dances, sings, and performs across the United States and Brazil with the Watoto Children’s Choir.
The traveling troupe of 22 orphaned Ugandan youths will begin their string of hundreds of shows in Vineyard Haven on Saturday, and will also make stops in Randolph, Foxborough, Braintree, and Weymouth over the next two weeks.
“What I love about being on choir is that we learn many new things,” Brenda said in a written comment, “and [we] get to have lots of fun, too.”
The Watoto Children’s Choir began touring in 1994, and has brought roughly 1,100 Ugandan youths ages 6 to 12 to six continents, with a goal to broaden not only their world views but those of their audience.
It was born of Watoto Child Care Ministries — “watoto” is Swahili for “the children” — founded in 1994 by Canadians Gary and Marilyn Skinner. Describing itself as a “holistic care program,” it provides for the physical, emotional, medical, educational, and spiritual needs of 2,500 children in six of its own villages.
“Everything that a child needs to grow up whole, we provide it, because they’re our kids,” said Watoto executive director Eugene Stutzman, who is based in Tampa. As an extension of that, the choir “does something for these kids that’s almost unexplainable. It develops their self-confidence. You see their characters and their personalities blossom.”
Performances consist of traditional dancing, spoken testimonies, and lively music — a fusion of contemporary gospel and traditional African rhythm — by the children and their adult chaperones.
Local shows will be held at Victory World Outreach Church in Randolph on Sunday, Bethany Congregational Church in Foxborough next Thursday, South Shore Plaza in Braintree and Community Baptist Church in Weymouth on Oct. 13; Church of Abundant Life in Braintree on Oct.14; and Spring of Water Christian Assembly in Randolph on Oct. 16. The group also will make stops this month in Boston, Burlington, Haverhill, and Bolton.
Previous choirs — there have been 57 in total — have performed in Africa, Australia, North and South America, Europe, and Asia — and in front of royals (Queen Elizabeth II) and presidents (George W. Bush), as well as athletes, politicians, and ministers.
One of the main goals is to draw awareness to Uganda’s plight: The small, landlocked country is estimated to have 2 million orphaned children.
“Many of them have experienced more hardship than most of us will in our lifetimes,” said Stutzman, describing children who are abandoned by relatives when their parents die, and a place where babies are in some cases “thrown out like trash.”
The primary cause of death in Uganda is HIV and AIDS, he said, and “the children are the ones who are left to deal with it.”
Watoto gains full custody of the children in its care, nurturing them through college. They live in three villages (while babies are tended to in three other villages), with eight children under the care of one surrogate mother.
As Stutzman explained, the women often come from “broken” backgrounds themselves (widowed, abused, or abandoned), and make a life commitment to caring for the children.
Ultimately, Watoto’s goal is to rescue 10,000 children in Uganda, and it will soon branch out to Juba, the capital of neighboring South Sudan. The hope, Stutzman noted, is eventually to replicate the model across Africa.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said.
As do the children about to embark on their life-altering journey with the choir.
Nine-year-old Majorine Nabulime, for her part, noted the group’s “energetic” dancing.
And what she’s looking forward to in America?
“Eating new foods,” she said in a written comment, “like a sandwich.”
Brenda, meanwhile, expressed excitement to see “tall buildings” — skyscrapers.
And her fellow performer, 8-year-old Maria Namukwaya, is eager to see snow for the first time.
“My friends have told me it is white and very cold,” she said.
Of what to expect of the performance, she added, “our beautiful smiles.”
Go to www.watoto.com/the-choir/see-the-choir for details on events.

© 2012 The New York Times Company