Music is providing a new link between two distinct cultures, with children from the Indigenous Dhungala Choral Connection and African Children's choir meeting to perform in Melbourne.
The project is hoped to strengthen ties between Ugandan and Indigenous communities.
The new initiative was developed after creator of the Choir of Hard Knocks, Dr Jonathon Welch, travelled to Uganda. He says seeing the positive impact that the African Children's Choir was having on local communities inspired the joint project.
"You can see in Uganda that the people have nothing, but they have their voices and their bodies, and they can move and they can sing,” Dr Welsh said.
“And you can see the joy that that brings them, taking them out of their everyday situations, which is very, very difficult.”
The African Children's Choir provides free education through to university level for all of the children involved in its program. Director of the African Children's Choir, Abraham Kiyingi says the program has had a significant impact on the lives of local children.
“The children that make it in the African Children's Choir come from vulnerable situations, they've either lost one or both of their parents or who have parents but don't have access to education and the African Children's Choir helps with educating them,” Dr Welch says.
Director of the Dhungala Choral Connection Deborah Cheetham says she hopes it will help the children to discover the similarities in their cultures.
“I think that music is an incredibly powerful force in the world for good, it is for Aboriginal people, the way that we have passed on knowledge for more than a thousand generations,” she says.
“I know that that's also true for the African nations.” But for the children, it's just about doing what they love most. “I like performing with other people,” says 7 year-old Lillie Walker. “You can be yourself.”
