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Catalyst of song: The African Children's Choir brings its lively and inspirational tour to New Mexico

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The African Children鈥檚 Choir鈥檚 current tour has several stops in New Mexico this month including Rio Rancho on Friday, Jan. 17, and Albuquerque on Sunday, Jan. 19.

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AFRICAN CHILDREN'S CHOIR

AFRICAN CHILDREN鈥橲 CHOIR

WHEN AND WHERE:

Alamogordo

11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 12,

First Presbyterian Church,

1318 14th St.

7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12,

Grace Methodist Church,

1206 Greenwood Lane

Tularosa

7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15,

First Baptist Church,

500 Granado St.

Rio Rancho

7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17,

Paragon Church,

103 Rio Rancho Drive SE

Albuquerque

10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 19,

Sandia Fellowship Global Methodist Church at Regal Winrock Theater, 2100 Louisiana Blvd. NE, theater #10

Grants

6:30 p.m. Wednesday,

Jan. 22, First Baptist Church, 224 Mountain Road

Gallup

7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24,

Grace Bible Church,

222 Boulder Road

Farmington

9 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 26, Emmanuel Baptist Church,

211 W. 20th St.

Bloomfield

6:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26,

First Baptist Church,

200 W. Sycamore Ave.

Rehoboth

7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, Rehoboth Christian Reformed Church, 415 Tse Yaaniichii St.

HOW MUCH: Concerts are free and donations are welcome; africanchildrenschoir.com

The African Children鈥檚 Choir is celebrating 40 years of bringing joy to audiences throughout the country.

Its current tour has several stops in New Mexico this month, including Rio Rancho on Friday, Jan. 17, and Albuquerque on Sunday, Jan. 19.

Choir manager Tina Sipp has been with the group for 21 years. It has been a labor of love for Sipp to watch the children excel musically, socially and mentally.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a very good show,鈥 Sipp said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very entertaining. It鈥檚 very energetic. They dance the whole time. They just work it out. And this choir is honestly pretty exceptional. They鈥檙e one of the best I鈥檝e seen and they鈥檙e all good. They just have energy and they just kill it. And this choir is very good on stage.鈥

This year鈥檚 choir is made up of nine girls and eight boys, with ages ranging from 8 to 10. The children are from Uganda and were selected to be part of the choir based on need.

鈥淲e go into different communities where we have worked for years,鈥 Sipp said. 鈥淲e go into neighborhoods where we have contacts and programs, and we will let our contacts there know that we have (an audition).鈥

For lack of a better word, Sipp uses the word 鈥渁udition鈥 to describe the search for African children to join the choir and added it is not a talent search.

鈥淲e can teach the children anything that they need to know for the program,鈥 she explained. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really quite amazing. They come in and in six months time, they鈥檙e not speaking English when we get them and then in six months, they鈥檙e speaking English, taking school in English, and memorizing an 80-minute program, singing and dancing. It鈥檚 incredible.鈥

During the audition period, Sipp and her team learn more about different families in the African communities who have brought their children to possibly be part of the choir.

鈥淲e are finding out about the different families in the community who have brought their children to this audition, and we鈥檙e looking for the families who are so impoverished that they can鈥檛 afford even a government school, because you need a uniform and you need to provide your own pencils and paper, and that is beyond the means of the families that we鈥檙e working with,鈥 Sipp explained. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the family we鈥檙e looking for. Their child might have had one term of school, but then there鈥檚 no money for the next term. There鈥檚 tens of thousands of children that are left out of education and so our goal is to try to help educate as many as we can, because if there鈥檚 one person in a family that鈥檚 educated, it helps their family.鈥

Educating children in the choir creates a ripple effect that has a positive impact on their families, according to Sipp.

鈥淲e鈥檝e helped educate over 59,000 children in the last 40 years,鈥 she added. 鈥... I just get excited about telling the story, because I think that there鈥檚 so few times in our lives where we get to do something profound, in the truest definition of profound. And when we invest in one of these lives, the trajectory of that life and that family鈥檚 life is 180 degrees, it鈥檚 profound. This is not just helping children get a little education for this year, this is a profound change, of course, for multiple people.鈥

Once a child is selected to be part of the choir, the child is educated through college.

鈥淥nce they鈥檙e in the choir, that鈥檚 our promise to them, is that we will educate you all the way through university level or post-secondary, whatever some of them want to go do, (maybe) a skill. Not all of them will go to a university. Many of them do, but they find their niche, and then we鈥檙e sponsoring that all the way through their course of study.鈥

Prior to touring, children come to the choir鈥檚 base in Entebbe, Uganda, for training. The children remain at the base for a year to receive schooling that will bring them up to the learning level needed for them to tour. Their schooling continues while they are on tour. When they return from tour, they enter a primary or secondary school and later pursue a skill or career through higher education.

鈥淲e have them for just a few short months, but what happens in that few months is vision,鈥 Sipp said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e staying with different host families in different parts of the country. They鈥檙e being introduced to horseback riding and fishing, and they go to the art museum and they go to a zoo. They go to all these different places, have all these different experiences. They talk to these different families. They see how they do life. And then our staff, of course, is with them every day, and we鈥檙e a faith based organization, and so we are mentoring them and this is the other thing I love talking about, because there鈥檚 one thing about educating the mind, it鈥檚 a whole other thing to educate the heart, and that鈥檚 what we get to do.鈥

Many of the children return when they are older to be part of the choir staff.

鈥淭he children I toured with the very first time back in 2003, now I鈥檓 working with them,鈥 Sipp said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e coming out to be chaperones and to be mentors. I鈥檝e seen the whole cycle. I (work with) them as seven-year-olds, and now they鈥檙e in their late 20s, and they鈥檙e giving back and they become these beautiful young people. We could never thank our host churches and our host families enough, because they allow us to do this. They allow us to provide these opportunities for these children. It changes everything.鈥