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Kenyan choir building 'bridge' to Africa
Photo by Jim McNally
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Published: October 31, 2009
To Moses Karanja, the annual autumn defoliation process is something of a miracle.
"We have been able to see the leaves changing colors," said Moses, a 12-year-old member of the Daraja Children's Choir of Africa.
"In Kenya," Moses continued, "there are not many trees and the leaves just fall off."
Moses and the two dozen Kenyan youngsters who make up the choir have been in Statesville the past few days in preparation for a concert given Friday night at Fairview Baptist Church.
When asked to describe the biggest difference between his native country and the United States, Moses struggled for the word in his more familiar Swahili.
He was then assisted by the choir's director, Absolom Adhiambo who translated the word into "generous."
Moses also made the interesting observation that "American people are more creative than people in Kenya."
Betty Harriet Wanjiru, 11, said there may be some bad people in the United States but "I haven't met any of them."
The choir has been in the country since the end of May. Much of the early part of their tour was spent in southern Florida, but since then the group has been as far north as New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Today, they move on to Ohio.
Adhiambo said the aim of the choir's tour is inspiration.
"We want to inspire the people to worship God and inspire them to help the Kenyan people," he said. "And I don't just mean with money. There are a lot of problems there with schools and hospitals and other things."
The concert tour is sponsored by a ministry group called the 410 Bridge.
According to Christie Baker, the group's name comes from a verse in the Bible, 1 Peter 4:10, which is: "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."
Baker said that verse essentially means that everyone has something to offer, and her group sees it as mandate to provide a helping hand, not a crutch.
"We send 900 people to Kenya to work on schools and clinics and water wells," Baker said. "But the Kenyan people in the villages themselves have to lead the way. They tell us how much then can contribute and we do not get involved with our part until they reach their goal."
She said the idea of a bridge — "daraja" is Swahili for "bridge" — is twofold.
"It represents a bridge between the U.S. and Kenya and between the people and God," she said. "And these children offer us their joy and gratitude. They offer us hope for now. We offer them hope for the future."
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