A children’s choir from Uganda began a six-city concert tour of Taiwan yesterday with a performance in Kaohsiung City.
Before the concert, members of the Watoto choir attended a promotional event in the city’s bustling commercial district to invite city residents to their evening performance.
They also visited a bakery where they tried making dough and baking, and they later toured several educational and cultural institutions.
Kaohsiung was the first stop on the choir’s tour of Taiwan. The choir will give a total of eight performances in six cities around Taiwan until Aug. 30 to raise funds for disadvantaged children in developing countries, according to World Vision Taiwan, a Christian charity that organized the tour.
The Watoto choir, which arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday, will hold its other concerts in Chiayi, Taichung, Hsinchu, Taipei and Hualien.
“We hope to raise people’s awareness of and generate support for orphaned children around the world,” World Vision said in a statement.
The choir, which was formed in 1994, is composed of children aged seven to 15 who have lost their parents in civil conflicts or to AIDS.
The choir members are from Watoto Children’s Village in Uganda, which was founded in 1992 by Canadian missionaries Gary and Marilyn Skinner to care for orphaned children.
Among them is Ronald, 10, who dropped out of school after he lost his parents to AIDS.
“My brothers and sisters and I lived with our grandmother until she found this place where we can live, be fed and receive a good education,” he said.
At the concerts, the Watoto children will sing a Taiwanese song that they have been practicing for a month, said Hank Du (杜明翰), the national director of World Vision Taiwan.
He urged the public to not only donate money to the cause, but also to “come listen to the beautiful voices of the children.”
The charity said the proceeds will go toward Watoto’s work in Uganda and World Vision’s HOPE Initiative, which supports children affected by HIV and AIDS, adding that some of the funds will also be used to help children living in extremely difficult circumstances, such as street children in India and disabled children in China.
This is the third time World Vision has invited Watoto to perform in Taiwan. Details are available at worldvision.org.tw.
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