Wednesday 16 January 2008

Watoto Children's Choir

We went to see the Watoto Children's Choir last night. It was enjoyable, heart wrenching and rather disconcerting all at once, if that's possible.

The children in the choir were astounding. Absolutely fabulous. I could have listened to them all night. Their energy and enthusiasm was a joy to behold. They were also very talented.

A short clip was shown about the plight of the children of Uganda, in particular the child soldiers. I'm pleased it was dark in there as the tears were streaming down my face. In recent years I've become very caught up in my own world. My world revolves around family and home. I'm often ignorant of what is happening in the macrocosm, I'm so tied up in the microcosm.

Sadly, in my opinion, the short musical performance and film clips were punctuated by much longer religious interludes. I found this a little disconcerting. I knew we were going to see a gospel choir which was part of a religious organisation but the focus and emphasis was not what I had expected. I left feeling upset that the opportunity to spread the word and educate people about the plight of these poor children was not taken full advantage of.

Hermione enjoyed the children's performances a lot and was visibly moved upon hearing how life is for many children in Uganda. Children only a year or two older than her trained as killing machines. What a world we live in.

1 comment:

Wobblymoo said...

It's a scary thought, even visiting Alnwick Castle where boys as young as 8 and 9 were being trained to fight brought it home to me