On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Ugandan children's choir to sing of hope

As part of the community's annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda will perform at Kelly Hall on Monday, Jan. 21, at 7:00 p.m.

By Lauren Heaton

The children will dress up in their red, yellow, black and brown ekikoyi cloth. They will smile, and they will sing and dance. They will have travelled far, all the way from Uganda, to be here to tell their stories of hope and inspiration. And as villagers commemorate the work of Martin Luther King Jr. this coming Monday, these children from Africa will remind us that there is much more to be done in the service of equality, justice and peace in the world.

Known as the Watoto Children’s Choir, after the Swahili word for “children,” this group of 18 youth are coming to Yellow Springs to perform a concert of hope, according to organizers. Their lives and the lives of thousands of others like them have been devastated by the effects of AIDS and the civil war that has ravaged Uganda since the 1980s. Orphaned by parents who have died or were themselves abducted by Lords Resistance Army rebels, these children have been adopted by Watoto, an organization that seeks to house, educate and empower Ugandan orphans. According to Watoto’s U.S. tour coordinator, Sherry Hanson, the Watoto choir groups travel around the world singing songs of joy in hopes of spreading awareness and inspiring others with the sounds of their own spiritual ascension.

The 18 Watoto choir members between the ages of 8 and 13 will arrive in Yellow Springs on Sunday, Jan. 20, with nine of the “aunties and uncles” that care for them in the homes built by Watoto, Hanson said. During their three-day stay, they will live with seven local host families, including Karen Crist and Sterling Wiggins, Jim and Naomi Orme, Meg Carver, Shelly Amos, Kurt Miyazaki and Ruth Hoff, Toni Laricchiuta and Dave Stratton, and Maggie Morrison.

Watoto takes a different children’s choir on tour every six months, and this particular group has been traveling the Midwest since September. According to Hanson, they will spend one month performing in Brazil before returning to their village, one of six built by Watoto near Kampala and most recently Gulu.

While fundraising is not the main purpose of the concert, Hanson said, Watoto is constructing more homes and schools and trying to bring in more homeless children. The Web site, www.watoto.com, has information about sponsorship, which is coordinated in the U.S. by Tracy Wulf, tracy@watoto.com.

When the Village Human Relations Commission was asked to help house the choir, member Joan Chappelle thought their visit would be an exciting opportunity for Yellow Springs families to connect with residents from   another part of the world. And they aren’t just residents, she said, but they are “the future leaders of Uganda.”

“Martin Luther King Day is a celebration of the strength and diversity of people,” Chappelle said. “And this is a chance for us to celebrate that through ethnic dance,

gospel and contemporary music.”The Watoto performance will complete a full day of MLK Day events sponsored by the Coretta Scott King Center, African American Culture Works, the First Baptist Church, and the community of Yellow Springs. The day will begin with a march from Mills Lawn to the First Baptist Church at 10:30 a.m., followed by a program featuring speaker Herbert Delaney followed by lunch. Delaney will also give a workshop entitled “Strengthening Diversity for a Diverse Society,” from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Baptist Church. And the day will end with Watoto’s performance of African and contemporary gospel music and dance at 7 p.m. in Kelly Hall.

The goal of the workshop given by Delaney is to establish a strategic plan to increase social inclusion in the village of Yellow Springs, according to Menelek Alexander, community and campus coordinator-leader for the CSK Center. Everyone is invited to participate, and it is hoped that the plan will guide future endeavors to strengthen community in the village, he said.

Delaney is the author of Beyond Tokenism: Creating an Inclusion Protocol, an assessment tool meant to help universities and organizations become more inclusive. His aim is to address ways to promote inclusion in community, while seeking to break down labels and barriers that separate and limit us from unifying as a society, Alexander said. His work is inspired by King’s philosophy of using nonviolence to promote social change by living courageously, seeking friendship and understanding with others, educating and informing, choosing to love instead of to hate, defeating injustice and believing that the universe is on the side of justice.

All events are free and open to the public.

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com