Special songsters

A SPECIAL concert by amazing children will entertain and inspire Berwick residents this weekend.
The Watoto Children Choir will perform a free concert at the Berwick Church of Christ at 6pm on 18 October.
Many of the young choir members are former orphans who have overcome an abundance of hardships.
They are ambassadors for the Watoto Child Care Village and are now travelling Victoria, sharing their zest for life through music.
Watoto currently operates three children’s villages and cares for hundreds of orphan children. The villages include more than 130 homes, each accommodating eight children and a mother who cares for them.
The villages also contain a complete school system for the Watoto children and those in the surrounding communities, a medical clinic, a church and community centre, and agricultural project providing food, a clean water source and electricity.
Victorian residents are lending their hand to the villages with financial support, while others are flying to Uganda as part of Aussie building teams to help build schools and infrastructure at the village.
Choir leader Peter Wamono said he was privileged and honoured to be part of the Watoto Children Choir.
“Raising poor African parentless children from despair and giving them purpose and meaning and hope, I can identify with the children myself because even though I had my parents, we were totally poor and lived from ‘hand to mouth’ as they say, the future looked bleak,” he said.
“I know that the children will grow up to be great leaders.”