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Monday, July 30, 2007

The blind choir singing their way from West Africa

The blind school choir of Sierra Leone visits Kent this month to perform at Canterbury Cathedral in a fundraising tour of England. Kent on Sunday editor Bernard Ginns visited their school in June to meet the choir and teachers of this inspirational school.

Some are blind from birth. Others lost their sight from disease. Some were blinded by rebel soldiers during the civil war.
But the choristers of the Milton Margai School for the Blind in Sierra Leone do not want your pity.
Instead, they want you to understand the joy that they get from singing.
These are the words of Barbara Davidson, the Englishwoman who helps run the blind school in Freetown.
The school’s renowned choir is coming to Kent later this month to perform a special fundraising concert at Canterbury Cathedral on July 30.
It is being organised by KOS Media, the publishers of www.kentnews.co.uk and Kent on Sunday, with the UK charity that supports the school.
We visited the school in Freetown, the chaotic capital of Sierra Leone last month to meet the teachers and children and to watch the 20-strong choir preview their impressive show.
Composer Alie Contah, 29, told Kent News readers why no one should miss the forthcoming Canterbury concert.
“First I will address those who saw us in 2003, during our last tour. I know they have no doubt we can do something. To those who witnessed it, we have more stuff; better stuff.
“To those who did not hear, they need to come for themselves and just see the package.
“If they miss this concert, they are really going to be regretting it for the rest of their lives.
“Better them come to the place and see for themselves.”
Mr Contah, who is blind, started making music in 1985. He composes classical and choral music and also enjoys making music with hip hop, reggae, African and calypso influences.
The headmaster Albert Sandy said: “Music has put this school on the map. Because music is associated with blindness, a lot of people who are blind turn towards music.”
He gave Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles as examples. The school, which has around 80 pupils, has won several medals and competitions for its music and has produced five albums.
Mr Sandy said: “This is a group of blind young children from Africa who will show you their talent and teach you their culture.”
The show will feature largely traditional West African music. The choir will be on tour in the UK for three weeks and will visit Kent, London, Cardiff and Hull.
For the first week, the choir members will be the guests of the Dorton House School for Blind, in Sevenoaks, which is also home of the Royal London Society for the Blind.
The two schools are twinned as Milton Margai depends on much of its support from overseas. It is supposed to be supported by the Sierra Leonean government but funds have not always been forthcoming.
During the civil war, the school and its pupils suffered a lot. When Freetown was caught up in fighting, the school was evacuated with pupils being taken to another school in a different part of the capital.
But it soon became unsafe so the children and staff returned. Rebels had badly damaged the school.
“We came back because there was nowhere we could have taken them,” said Mr Sandy. “Most of their families had disappeared. They had very little food and then we ran out. So we went to the junta [the illegal military government] and literally begged for food.”
Since the war ended in 2002, staff have been slowly rebuilding the school.
Ms Davidson, 51, said: “Things are tough. We struggle sometimes to run this place. When we don’t get grants it’s normally people from overseas who help to run the school with gifts and donations.
“The children don’t have anything that they can give back to these people apart from their voices.”
Ms Davidson, originally from Newcastle, has been at the school for 15 years.
In 2004 she was awarded an MBE for services to the blind in Sierra Leone.
The irony of the school, she said, is that it is probably the only free school in Sierra Leone. The blind children who attend probably get a better education from more than 20 dedicated teaching staff than those in mainstream schools.
Mr Sandy has worked at the school for 18 years. He is the only teacher who has qualifications to teach special needs children.
He said: “We train them a lot with mobility to walk from place to place and to be able to able to look at themselves in an environment with confidence.
“[But] the general attitude in Sierra Leone is negative. The chance for the children to have a job or to live on their own in Freetown is very slim because of the negative attitude towards them.
“People in Sierra Leone are not aware of the rights and privileges of the disabled. I am sure a lot of these rights and privileges will be supported if there was legislation. We need a lot of advocacy.”
The school also needs educational materials, a resource centre and specialist training for the majority of its staff.
In 2004, the charity UK Association for the Milton Margai School for the Blind was established to support the school.
KOS Media has teamed up with the charity to organise the concert on July 30.
Cathedral authorities have lent their support to the show.
The Royal London Society for the Blind, based at Sevenoaks, the specialist events company SRD Group, of Tonbridge, and the Vision Charity, of London, are also providing valuable support.
We still have some tickets left for the Sing Freetown concert. It is free but there will be a collection for the school. To obtain tickets, please write to Bernard Ginns, Editor, Kent on Sunday, Apple Barn, Hythe Road, Smeeth, Ashford, Kent, TN25 6SR.
Readers may also donate online by visiting www.miltonmargaischool.org.

 

The blind choir singing their way from West Africa