Singing ambassadors
Young members of The Maisha Project’s Light the Future Choir prepare to sing at the nonprofit ministry’s event on Saturday in Oklahoma City.
By singing songs of life and spirituality, members of an African choir are spreading a message of hope throughout Oklahoma.
Eleven members of The Maisha Project’s Light the Future Choir have traveled from their home in Kisumu, Kenya, to the metro area to thank Oklahomans who have helped support them over the years and to share information about ongoing efforts to make their villages self sustaining.
Beatrice Williamson, a Kenyan native and founder of The Maisha Project, said the young choir members will perform at a special event called “A Night for Africa” which is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Catholic Pastoral Center in Oklahoma City.
Williamson, who lives in Oklahoma City, founded Maisha to offer support to orphans and impoverished children in Kenya, as well as families living in villages near the Maisha orphanage.
She said “A Night for Africa” is free and will include Kenyan song and dance. Attendees will be able to sample Kenyan cuisine at a cost, and an auction will be held to help raise money for The Maisha Project.
Williamson said the choir members have visited several entertainment centers and attractions during their visit to the metro area, including the Oklahoma City Zoo, Science Museum Oklahoma, Main Event and Top Golf
As interesting as those trips were, Eugine Otieno, 10, a fifthgrader at Maisha Academy, said his favorite aspects of the visit to Oklahoma have been the food at Chick Fil-A and shopping at Walmart.
His friend and fellow choir members Rosemary Akinyi and Diana Amondi said they have loved the Oklahoma weather, which is cooler than their African homeland. Amondi, 13, a seventh-grader, said she likes all the trees and the green grass she has seen while visiting the state.
Mercy Atieno, a Maisha Academy teacher and the choir’s adult adviser, said the choir members especially like performing for Oklahoma crowds.
“Singing refreshes our soul, and it brings happiness,” she said. “We can share messages and show how we appreciate all that God has done in the lives of the orphans.”
Helping break cycle
The choir recently performed for the Edmond Rotary Club and also collaborated with the Oklahoma AIDS Foundation for a World AIDS Day event. Williamson said many of the orphans and families that have received help from The Maisha Project have in some way been affected by the AIDS epidemic in their country.
Meanwhile, Williamson and Atieno said some of the choir members have lost one or both parents, while some of them are part of families that include both families. The women said the youths receive aid from Maisha because of the general poverty that is prevalent in their villages.
Williamson said church groups from throughout Oklahoma and other places have helped build and support Maisha Academy and a medical clinic. The groups also have provided food for the academy and impoverished families in the surrounding area.
Williamson said many of the children who do have parents often have to fend for themselves because their parents are day laborers who make little money.
Choir member Julious Omolo, 13, said his mother feeds the family by selling water doorto-door to those individuals and families that can’t get to the well themselves He said she carries the water in jugs in a wheelbarrow from about 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, and Williamson said she makes very little money from this work.
Justice Wanjira, 13, said his mother walks for two hours one way to sell vegetables, and she also does not make much money.
Williamson said over the next few years, Maisha hopes to help the villagers become self-sufficient.
“This community is rising up. We have shown them that God is there. You were hungry, now you have food. You were sick, now, you have care,” Williamson said.
“Now, it’s about giving them the tools to help themselves because they need to break the cycle of poverty.”