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An online diary - Sinikithemba Choir's "Give Us Hope" tour
HIVAN Media Team.
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HIVAN sponsors a Job Shadow Programme between Kwazulu-Natal workers in HIV/AIDS-related fields and partners in South Africa and abroad. Dr Helga Holst, Medical Superintendent of McCord Hospital in Durban, is the first participant in this Programme and she has accompanied McCord's Sinikithemba Choir to the United States, where they are performing during a three-week sponsored concert tour to raise funds for the AIDS programme of the Church World Services in Africa.
Dr Holst will provide HIVAN with regular updates of the Choir's tour and these will be documented by way of this online diary.
Diary Entry - Saturday November 23 2002
We arrived at JFK at sunrise to a cold and windy New York. All the warm clothes were on, scarves, hats, mitts, jackets. It was great to see a weak watery sun coming up after flying 16-plus hours in darkness! We were met by Tom Hampson, Bill Wildey and Daryl Stamm from Church World Service in three vans, one for luggage and two for people. There was room enough for everyone!
The drive out through the streets of New York, over its famous bridges and along the grey Hudson River was spectacular. And the New York skyline in the morning was so beautiful. We were taken to the Stony Point Conference Center about 45 miles north of New York, and warmly welcomed there. A special gift packet was given to each of the choir members with a small camera, calender, scarf and some other useful warm items. A special ?“Give Us Hope?” T-shirt was also given to each one. There was great excitement despite the fatigue and singing which brought out other conference delegates from their classrooms to listen and welcome the South African group.
After lunch, the Choir sang several songs to a packed dining room. About 75% of those present were Afro-Americans. One, May Ellen Cobbs, a social worker from Michigan, had come especially to stay there to be with the Sinikithemba Choir. She had spent several months earlier this year with us at Sinikithemba and wanted to be back with her "South African family". There was a standing ovation when they finished. Mary stood up and asked for a basket to be passed around. She said to them: "These are our people, and they are coming to us - come on you folk, give them something!" The connection between the Afro-Americans and the South Africans was instant and genuine. We would see it again and again in the week to follow. The generosity was overwhelming. There was enough to give each one $30 for pocket money!
Some slept in the afternoon, but the rest sorted out beadwork items in Mrs Mhlongo?’s ?“office?”, and under Mary?’s direction, there was active debate on how the items should be priced. We all slept well that night.
Diary Entry Two - Sunday November 24, 2002
After breakfast we drove back into New York, to downtown Manhattan to Judson Memorial Baptist Church, where the choir participated in the morning service. A Thanksgiving lunch was served after the service, and the socialising was great. Street-people were also welcomed and clearly enjoyed the warm atmosphere and good food.
Ticket sales for the Dec 1 Riverside Church Concert did not go so well, but the beadwork sold remarkably well with Mrs Mhlongo and Mary Cobbs manning the tables.
The afternoon was spent at a media briefing session at Church World Service Offices, where the choir met some of the staff. I was struck by several thoughts:
- African women ?….Zulu women?… going north?…..afflicted with HIV/AIDS, but with a song of hope and love in their hearts, which they are wanting to share with others?….
- They are singing for Church World Service AIDS projects in all of Africa.
- The strong identification of Mary and other Afro-Americans with these folk: ?“They are our people?”.
The full diary of this tour can be found on the righthand side of this page
For further information on the Sinikithemba Choir and the HIVAN Job Shadow Programme, please click on the links on the righthand side of this page. |
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