By Michelle Hines, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 1-15-09
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Following the brutal reign of Idi Amin in Uganda, during which hundreds of thousands of children were left orphaned and starving, the African Children’s Choir was born.
The Children’s Choir — founded to show the world what Africa’s most needy children have to offer, and to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness — will perform Friday, Jan. 30, at UNCG.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. in Aycock Auditorium. It is part of UNCG’s University Concert and Lecture Series.
Call the University Box Office at (336) 334-4849 or visit http://www.uncg.edu/euc/boxoffice/ for tickets. Tickets are $25-$30.
Human Rights activist Ray Barnett, inspired by the singing of one small boy, founded the choir in 1984, in the midst of Uganda’s bloody civil war. The first group of singers was selected from orphaned and vulnerable children in the Kampala and Luwero regions of Uganda. After the choir trained to perform and prepared to live in new cultures, they toured North American church communities. The proceeds from this tour built an orphanage in Kampala from which the second choir was selected.
To date over 700 children have gone through the choir program. The funds they have generated have helped to provide education and hope for thousands like them in the most desperate and needy parts of Africa.
For more on the African Children’s Choir, visit http://www.africanchildrenschoir.com/.
