Elsa Mugyenzi of the African Children’s Choir

Em: What is the age range for the children in the choir?

Elsa: Yes, this particular group [Choir number 24] is between 8 and 10 years-old.

Em: How many children sing with the choir currently?

Elsa: This group has 22 children.

Em: Are different children chosen every year or are there repeat singers?

Elsa: There are different children chosen every year…to give an opportunity to a lot of other children…you have the opportunity to sing once and then you return home to finish your education…

Em: How would you describe the story of the African Children’s Choir?

Elsa: The story of the choir is basically a story of hope…it’s about giving hope to these children who come from, you know, very little, from nothing. And about them finding the very best they could be in life. These children come from where they come from, they travel the world, and get the experience they would never receive in a classroom. And then, they’re given the experience of getting a good education…so it’s a story of hope.

Em: What languages do the children sing in?

Elsa: Oh, man!...about 5 or 3. Depends on where they’re singing and dancing. Between 5 or so…some Swahili, Ugandan, there’s a South African dance…so [the language of] Zulu…so that’s a few there.

Em: How do they decide on which songs to sing? Because I know there are children from Nigeria and Uganda and different countries…

Elsa: This [particular] group are all Ugandan children – they’re all from Uganda. And they have different dances from Uganda. From different parts of Uganda and not just Uganda, but different parts of Africa like South Africa, there’s a Congo dance, they just embody different aspects from all different cultures in Africa.

Em: Are there plans to recruit children from other countries in the near future and if so, which countries?

Elsa: That would be ideal…I mean, everybody would like that. But you know there’s some countries…some of the situations in some of the countries would not allow that. For instance, we have worked in the Sudan, but we cannot bring children out to the West, because of the situation in the Sudan. So, it’s only in areas where the government is really peaceful where we could do that.