Ugandan Kids Choir makes local stops

CONSHOHOCKEN » As warm weather holidays go, it doesn’t generate much buzz, but Aug. 5 is National Friendship Day.

The United States Congress established the annual observance — always on the first Sunday in August — in 1935, and several countries have followed suit in the years since.

Three-year-olds Henry and Rowan met as infants at Creative Care Child Care Too in Trappe and quickly became fast friends. The two tots — like most of us — don’t know a thing about National Friendship Day. But even at 3, they recognize the concept when it comes their way.

“Rowan’s my friend … ’cuz he likes to play Spider-Man with me,” Henry notes when asked why Rowan is such a good buddy.

Superheroes aside, there was no lack of fellowship at Conshohocken United Methodist Church last weekend. The Ugandan Kids Choir was in town, and the young African visitors had clearly forged a thought or two about the meaning of friendship during the past few days.

Amon, 10: “Friendship means when someone is in need, you help.”

Yvonne, 8: “… loving your neighbor [and] sharing with each other.”

Leevan, 9: “… when you have a problem and that person is there to help.”

Anthony, 12: “… doing things together.”

Dorcus, 11: “… loving one another [and] being kind.”

Angel, 11: “… when you love someone.”

Irene, 12: “… to be kind to someone [and] to be faithful and polite.”

Justine, 12: “being kind, being hon-

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est and faithful.”

Timothy, 10: “… being there for someone else.”

Isaac, 10: “… having someone you can trust and hang around with.”

In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed July 30 The International Day of Friendship “with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.”

“The resolution … places particular emphasis on involving young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity,” the U.N. proclamation declared.

How does that jibe with concerns about digital friends on today’s social media — a virtual world where personal or public status can be artificially inflated via shadowy “click farms” and “like-making machines” or, at the other extreme, the highly visible Moscow vending machines whose sale of Instagram followers made pop culture headlines about a year ago?

Only time will tell. That said, there’s no shortage of research pointing to flesh and blood friends as more meaningful — more conducive to positive mental health — than relatives, much less bots. As Harper Lee, the author of Pulitzer Prize-winning “To Kill a Mockingbird,” famously put it: “You can choose your friends, but you sho’ can’t choose your family, an’ they’re still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge ‘em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don’t.”

The local girls and boys who volunteered as “bingo buddies” for members of the Ugandan Kids Choir have their own thoughts about friendship.

Abi, 10: “… someone helps you out when you’re down, and they will help you through all your problems, ideas and solutions, and they’ll just be nice.”

Ethan, 5: “… sharing with anyone, playing together [and] giving hugs.”

Isaac, 4: “… sitting next to each other [and] playing on the playground.”

Jasmine, 3: “… hugs, saying you’re sorry, playing along with others [and] sharing.”

Dom, 8: “… someone that is friendly and likes you, and he’s fun, kind and likes to do the same kinds of things [and] play together.”

The “bingo buddies” were part of a CUMC-wide effort to make the young Ugandan travelers feel at home during their visit to Conshohocken.

Congregant and host Pat Patterson explains the choir “is sponsored by Childcare Worldwide — a Christian child sponsorship ministry dedicated to sharing the gospel, providing hope and developing the unlimited potential of impoverished children around the world.”

The organization was founded in 1981 and is based in Bellingham, Wash.

“The 10 sponsored children who make up the choir are between ages 8 and 12 and come from the poorest parts of Uganda,” Patterson says. “They have been chosen for their enthusiasm, ability and dedication — all of which make them potential leaders when they return to their communities.”

At press time, the choir’s local itinerary also included stops at Central Schwenkfelder Church in Lansdale and Bethany Evangelical Church in Havertown. Additional information is available at childcareworldwide.org.