Singing in a choir gives young children from impoverished villages in Uganda hope for an education and a better life for themselves and their families.

And their new reality is due indirectly to a 91原创-based global organization.

The African Children's Choir (ACC) is run by a faith-based organization called Music for Life, located on the 91原创 Bypass, that helps thousands of children throughout Africa. In the past 40 years of operation, it has directly helped 59,000 kids in seven different countries with the education, discipline, and leadership skills needed to rise above their conditions so they can bring positive, lasting change to their families, communities, and countries.

While a majority of the children assisted are from Uganda, the ACC also works with vulnerable families from Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa.

And most of the money raised to help educate these children comes from the choir, which travels and performs about six months of a year, singing for thousands of strangers a long ways from home. Just such a concert is coming to 91原创 this weekend.

This Sunday, 18 children will be performing at 7 p.m. at the Willoughby Christian Reformed Church, 20525 72 Ave. No tickets are required, though donations are appreciated to continue the choir鈥檚 impactful work, said Tina Sipp, the choir manager.

Comprised of children aged 8 to 11, all from vulnerable backgrounds across Africa, the African Children鈥檚 Choir serves as a powerful testament to the resilience and potential of Africa鈥檚 future leaders, explained Sipp, who first saw the choir perform in the early 1990s.

"I was completely mesmerized by the children鈥� I wasn't believing what I was seeing鈥� It was so compelling," she recounted of what she called heartwarming performances of popular children鈥檚 tunes, traditional spiritual songs, and vibrant African cultural pieces. 

Sipp had been looking for a way to provide meaningful ministry work overseas. After her third time seeing ACC perform, she walked in the next day and signed up as a volunteer chaperone for Music for Life. She joined the staff a short time later, bookings concerts for 10 years. And now, for the past decade, she's been managing the choir.

鈥淚 absolutely love the work鈥� The African Children鈥檚 Choir proves just how powerful music can be. These concerts not only provide hope and encouragement to our audiences, but they offer the children life-changing experiences that help shape them into future leaders,鈥� the Spokane-based manager said.

She explained that children participating in the choir all come from impoverished homes where going to school would otherwise be impossible because it's too costly. Accepted into Music for Life at the average age of seven, these kids spend six months at the choir training academy, then typically go out on one season (six months) of touring. There's only one tour per child, normally, Sipp clarified.

Then, the kids return to Africa, where they attend the Music for Life's boarding school and continue their ongoing education. The organization takes a few hundred children at a time through the equivalent of our primary, secondary, and post-secondary or trade school. 

In addition to giving children the tools to learn and help their own families and community, Sipp said Music for Life also offers assistance to the students' families throughout.

"It's not just entertainment. It's about helping Africa's most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow," she emphasized.

"Each child in the choir has faced significant hardship, often with limited access to education. Yet, through the choir, these children gain life-changing opportunities for education and personal growth, becoming beacons of hope for their communities," she added, describing the kids as joyful, delightful, energetic, respectful, appreciative, and beautiful souls.

"They find joy in the simplest of things," Sipp said, indicating she's convinced she get as much or more out of her relationships with the children.

"It doesn't take long for people to just fall in love. They're incredible."

Just wrapping up their U.S. portion of the tour with a show in Phoenix, the group stopped off in Bellingham and was expected to arrive in the Lower Mainland this week, where they will settle in with their billets and are given a chance to learn about new customs, foods, and cultures.

This current tour is the choir's first time back in Canada since 2019. In addition to the show in 91原创, and a private tour of the 91原创 headquarters, the group is also performing in Surrey the Friday before 91原创's concert, then in Chilliwack, Vancouver, Abbotsford, and Maple Ridge in the days following.

The choir then heads across the country, with four shows average per week during the next two and a half months, the Canadian leg of the concert tour is expected to wrap up in Ontario in May, Sipp said.

The 80-minute musical program is called "Just As I Am," offering a collection of favourite hymns put to African rhythms that Sipp describes as "uplifting."

They don't charge for tickets, but appreciate donations. Information about the 91原创 show is available at 604-530-5959.

"Consider giving generously. They put their heart into it. Invest in these children, so they can have a decent life. They have the potential," she added. Without this, however, "they just don't have the opportunity鈥� The audience鈥� they can make all the difference."

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