UMOZA CHILDREN'S PROGRAMME
Umoza (togetherness) programme was founded in 2002 in response to
the plight of young children in and on the streets of Mzuzu City
with a population of 250,000 in the Northern Region of Malawi by
St. John of God Community Services, Mzuzu a constituent of St.
John of God Brothers, Ireland.
Many of these children come to Mzuzu from all parts of Malawi
(population 12,000,000) looking for work to relieve their families
chronic poverty. A situation which is exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS
pandemic.
Today the Umoza Program offers boys and girls, after
identification and assessment, wholistic physical, psycchological
and pastoral care with emphasis on repatriation, reconciliation,
return to school, skills for living, vocational training,
recreation and support to the children's guardians.
In 2007 with encouragement and support from John Dunfort, Daisy
Entertainment, Ireland, the program commenced teaching traditional
dance, music and introduction to the traditons and culture of the
Northern Region.
As a means of encouraging the children to identify with their
culture and express themselves through drama, song and dance.
Dear All,
I returned to Malawi in January and despite losing my luggage for a few days (in which was hidden microphones, stands cables, and various recording gear) I managed to get plenty of material recorded Umoza kids were fantastic and were really well prepared for the recording by their music teachers and mentors - Emmanuel and Ezekiel. Beside recording enough material for their own cd (the track below is from that session) Umoza also lent their backing vocals to a song written by John Waters and performed by Sinead O Connor. This will be part of CD to raise awareness for the Wells for Zoe project, also in Malaw, which is being run by John Coyne in conjunction with St John of Gods in Mzuzu. Umoza also contributed some vocals for a guided meditation CD being compiled by Paul Hamilton.
So all in all a great trip. I also got a loan of a jeep from Br Aidan and drove solo over to Nkhotakhota pottery at Lake Malawi.
The funds you gave were all donated to Br Aidan at SJOG Mzuzu and will go to the development of the Umoza Cultural Academy at SJOG Mzuzu.
I am hoping to have the CD of Umoza finished by April. We will send a copy to you at that point.
Thanks again for you contribution - it means so much to people who have very little
More as it comes.
JD
Check out the track as it stands here
John's Letter before his departure to africa
Dear.....
In early 2007, I travelled to Mzuzu in Malawi with a group of 11 St. John of God personnel, who were based in Carmona Services in Glenageary, Co. Dublin. Our mission was to fundraise for a food project called Umsuma which operates as a food credit union by Brother Aidan Clohessy in outlaying villages from Mzuzu. Each of the group had to raise 5k. With your help, I managed to raise nearly 8k. I saw first hand the benefit of this great operation, which is working very well and is feeding and giving employment to over 500 families. Some facts on Malawi :
< Out of the 173 poorest countries in the world it ranks as 165
< Average wage is $1 per day
< Life expectancy is about 37
< Over 20% of the population have aids
< In a country of 12 million people, there is one state psychiatric hospital Bro. Aidan Clohessy runs a fantastic centre in Mzuzu. At its core, is The House of Hospitality, which caters for people with mental health problems. Not only is this a first class medical centre but also Bro. Aidan has set up many ventures to rehabilitate and train the ex-patients. They can be trained in carpentry, screen-printing, landscaping and horticulture and many other disciplines and he encourages them to be able re-enter society feeling worthwhile. They also run outreach clinics, nursing stations and are very involved in a project for clean water called Wells for Zoë (see article by John Waters in The Irish Times). One of the schemes that affected me greatly was the Umoza Childrens Centre there. Bro. Aidan set this up as a day care centre for homeless children. These are children who live on the streets because their parents have died generally from either Aids or malaria. Some of these children are also Aids victims themselves. They are brought into the school, given clean clothes, fed and educated there. While, I was there they showed a great musical flair and immediately, I agreed to sponsor a music teacher for 2007/2008. Since January the group (Umoza Cultural Group) has done three public performances and I am returning in January 2008 to see one performance and to record some tracks from these kids for use on a CD to released at some stage in the future. I am completely dedicated to this project now and certainly want to continue to invest time and money into this worthy cause in an effort to try and improve the lives of these children. However, the difference I am making is a drop in the ocean compared to what needs to be done. A little financial help goes a long way in Mzuzu. I would be obliged if you would consider making a donation (no matter how small) to this very worthy cause. Donations should be made out to 'St. John of God-Umoza' ....and sent to:Hannah Dunford
The Daisy Label
2 Carriglea
Naas Road
Dublin 12
IrelandI will be updating everyone on the progress out there on my return. I am leaving on the 15th of January. Many thanks in advance.
Kind Regards,
John
discs@daisydiscs.com