Ugandan Milele Childrens' Choir

This group was in B-N for the week.  I had the honor of attending one of their performances at Westminster Village, a large retirement community.  Having been to Uganda coupled with the support our UU Church is providing to New Life School made their performance particularly significant.  See my post of January 12, 2012.  Their CD and DVD displays their brilliant talent. Some learned the Choirs local performance schedule in order to see them perform a second time!

The picture and the article below appeared on the front page of our newspaper. 

NORMAL — Life looked pretty grim for Eric Jjombwe, 7, of Kampala, Uganda, whose mother was jobless and whose father died of HIV/AIDS. That was before the boy became part of Imani Milele Children, a Christian ministry for orphans that gave him a place to live and an education. The group’s name is Swahili for “believe always” or “faith everlasting.”ow 17, Jjombwe is part of the 25-member Imani Milele Children’s Choir that is on a nine-month tour of the United States to raise money and awareness for the organization. The choir of 10 boys and 15 girls, ages 9 to 17, danced and sang jubilant African songs Wednesday at Olympia High School and Middle School in rural Stanford.

The Rev. Moses Ssemanda Mbuga, 
founder of Imani Milele Children, a ministry in Uganda

“It’s a great experience. I enjoy the roads, the food and the cars,” said Jjombwe, who hopes to be a lawyer someday. “We work a lot and balance school and choir,” said choir member Debbie Opaki, 16, who hopes to be a physician one day. “The best part is to have a chance to go to school and to travel in America.” Opaki, who joined Imani Milele when she was 8 years old, called it “life-changing.”The choir, hosted by Calvary United Methodist Church in Normal, will be in Central Illinois until Saturday, said Jennifer Bauersfeld, a member of the host church. Other performance stops include: the church; The Baby Fold and Parkside Junior High School, both in Normal; Westminster Village in Bloomington; and tonight at Decatur New Vision Church. The children travel with five Ugandan adults, including a teacher who helps them continue their education on the road, said Stephanie Graham, a nurse from Sebastian, Fla., who is traveling with the choir. Her church, Crossroad Christian Fellowship Church in Sebastian is sponsoring the tour, which will run until December.

The choir’s performances raise money for children at education centers in Uganda.
“Our target is $100,000. It’s not easy to get there,” said Sam Straxy, the choir director.
When the current 25 members of the choir return to Uganda, another 25
will begin a nine-month tour. The choir has a total of 100 members.The children who came from abuse and extreme poverty “bring a message of hope,” Straxy said.

The Rev. Moses Ssemanda Mbuga founded Imani Milele Children. His father, also a Christian minister, died in 1984 when Mbuga was 22 years old, leaving the son to raise his 13 younger siblings. He fetched water and worked as a laborer.  In the years that followed, Mbuga said his “heart was so broken for the orphans” that he prayed, “Lord what I can do?” Soon he adopted three orphans and now, 20 years later, more than 3,000 children have been helped by the ministry, he said.

People are impressed with the choir members’ good manners, appreciation and knowledge, he said, adding the key is the “fear of God, discipline and education.”“People have fallen in love with our children,” he said.They succeeded in charming Olympia.“I thought it was great that they can express their culture and bring it to Central Illinois,” said Olympia senior and band member Kenyon Jodlowksi, who enjoyed the choir during his Contemporary History class. Olympia school cooks, who served the choir lunch, also popped in for the performance. “They are so wonderful. It was so fun for everyone to have them here today,” said cook Pat Peifer.