The Keiskamma Gospel Choir Makes U.S. Debut
The Keiskamma Gospel choir made its U.S. debut in the Washington, D.C. area in honor of World AIDS Day Dec. 1, 2008. The 7-member choir, comprised of health workers from a rural AIDS clinic in Hamburg, South Africa, sang six formal concerts at area venues, including 5 churches and at James Madison University.
The Keiskamma Gospel Choir was borne from the impromptu singing of patients and staff at Umtha Welanga Health Care Centre, an AIDS clinic in Hamburg, South Africa, supported by 25:40. Umtha Welanga means “Rise and Shine,” a statement that the people of the clinic embody as each morning they begin the day with song and prayer. The patients and staff raise their voices and their hearts every morning in prayer, which helps them cope with the ravages of AIDS and other opportunistic diseases.
Five of the 7 choir members had never been outside of their country, let alone on an airplane for 18 hours, stepping foot in Washington, D.C. They spent 10 days in the area, performing at churches of varied denominations:
- Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, Burke, VA
- James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
- Calvary Baptist Church, Washington, D.C. Fairfax
- Presbyterian Church, Fairfax, VA
- Westmoreland United Church of Christ, Bethesda, MD
- St. Andrews Episcopal Church, College Park, MD
So many people were warm and welcoming to the choir. Students at James Madison University who traveled to Hamburg on a studies abroad program in June 2008 greeted the choir enthusiastically, ecstatic to see their African friends in Harrisonburg. The students also made dinner for the choir, some of it authentic South African fare.
Beverly Hunt met the choir at 25:40’s 5th Anniversary celebration and hired a driver and a car to take the choir touring the sites of Washington, D.C. and out to lunch as well. While standing in front of the White House, a group of tourists asked them to sing. So the choir can now say they sang in front of the White House!
Ben & Sandra Glass of Fairfax Station, VA, hosted the choir for dinner one night during their stay. 25:40 Board member Carol Radden took the choir to the Air & Space Museum. The choir visited the National Cathedral, where the Keiskamma Altar Piece was on display in early 2008. The altar piece is a large tapestry made women and men of Hamburg through the Keiskamma Art Project — and one member of the choir, Eunice Mangwane, is featured prominently in the altar piece.
Michigan musician Claudia Schmidt took time out of her touring schedule to fly to Washington to accompany the choir on several of their songs throughout their stay. Claudia had sung with them when she visited Hamburg in September 2008.
One of the highlights of the week was a dinner that the members of St. Andrews provided for the choir and the congregation after its Dec. 6 show, which happened to be the choir’s last concert on this tour. The dinner turned into a wonderful gathering with impromptu singing and dancing by the choir and members of the congregation.
The choir received an overwhelming response everywhere they went. Here is one example from Hans Rohde, a member of Abiding Presence. “The renewal of our faith will never come from a committee or a bureaucracy, but it can come from the vitality of sounds and songs. On Nov. 30, 2008 at Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, we were reminded of the origin of our faith by seven young singers from South Africa. They sang with anguish in their hearts and tears flowing from their eyes; not only because of the grief in their life, but also because of their joy and faith in Jesus Christ. Like tender young branches attached to the vine, they sang the words of God with the authority of God. With deep and profound faith, their voice projected the realization of what was and now is. We thank you for the gift you have brought to our church.”
The choir is new and young and will spend the year organizing, as well as performing in the Peddie area of South Africa, where they live. 25:40 plans on having them return in 2009 for World AIDS Day. Click here to view our photo album of the Keiskamma Choir visit.