Uganda

Uganda is a special place for the African Children’s Choir™. It was in Uganda that Ray Barnett first envisioned the African Children’s Choir™. The first Choirs toured from Uganda and it’s where most new Choirs are currently trained. Many former Choir children are raised to become Africa’s next generation of leaders. Uganda has benefited from many different relief and development projects over the past 25 years and is home to hundreds of children who are supported through our sponsorship programs.

Some of the African Children’s Choir’s strongest outreach programs are in Uganda. Over 500 children are provided education daily at five major primary schools located in communities around Kampala. These are some of Uganda’s most desperate communities where the school programs serve as a lifeline to the most needy and vulnerable. Students in different areas experience different needs; depending on the school, students may be given necessities like a daily meal and a school uniform in addition to learning opportunities.

All children sponsored through Music for Life are supported through their secondary education. Today approximately 550 sponsored pupils attend

secondary schools in their communities, with approximately 60 more students attending trade schools, colleges or universities in Uganda. Many sponsored children are now serving their communities as teachers, doctors, business people, and more.

Many of the Choir children are from Uganda. There is almost always a new group of children in training at the Makindye Training Center, located in the Makerere district of Kampala. These children have been selected from communities across Uganda to become the next touring Choir. They will spend approximately five months here, learning English, catching up on schooling and preparing for life on the road. If you lived next door, you would certainly know every African Children’s Choir™ song by heart!

Following tour, many Choir children are enrolled at the unique Music for Life Primary School. Also located in the Makerere district, this five–story boarding school addresses all the needs of former Choir children during their Primary education (Levels One to Seven). In addition to the traditional Ugandan curriculum, the students receive extra training in music, computer studies and Swahili. Students are cared for by loving staff and receive the physical, emotional and spiritual support needed to reach their full potential.

Approximately 120 students are currently boarding at the school, while another 30 students in Primary Level One to Three are being housed at a satellite facility in Makindye. Professional development for teaching staff is also an ongoing priority at these schools.

Because demand has now outgrown the current facilities of the School a new African Children’s Choir™ Primary School is under construction on a 14 acre site on the shores of Lake Victoria near Entebbe.

Each year teams of Music for Life volunteers from around the world visit the schools to provide enrichment camps to the students and surrounding community, building on the Choir’s long-term commitment to these neighborhoods.