In the Luganda language of Uganda Bitone means talents. The Bitone Center For Children uses a childs musical talents to help that child in life.
The mission of The Bitone Children’s Home/Troupe is to restore the lives and hopes of Ugandan children between 8 and 18 years old who have been traumatized by the death of their parents or loss of their home due to disease, war, or economic hardship.
- Bitone MySpace
They not only provide food and medicine. They educate. They teach music and Ugandan folklore. They connect these children with their past.
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I read about Bitone in TapeOp Magazine, the magazine for and about audio engineers and producers. (If this interests you click over for a free subscription) They interviewed Grant Buhr who recorded the children at this mission.
Over the six months I spent in Uganda, I had the life-changing pleasure of recording the music of this center and its children, and in the process creating some of the most profound friendships in my lifetime.
- Grant Buhr - TapeOp interview
Click over to the Bitone MySpace to hear six of the songs they recorded. You can also buy the CD to support the mission.
This final paragraph in the interview with Grant Buhr really got me. This is why I'm running this diary on a Sunday even though it's not explicitly about Gospel music.
The Bitone children are deeply rooted in a spirituality that's rare in the Western world. They didn't come off as evangelized, or as if they had been brainwashed by missionaries - when they prayed it was the most moving expression of song I have ever witnessed. They would all cram into the backroom of the house, close their eyes, and take turns leading the call and response of their favorite devotional songs, adding whatever they wanted whenever they felt it.
- Grant Buhr - TapeOp interview
This is a wonderful project taking place at an excellent mission. We need more education like this in the world. We need it right here in the United States. The only way to teach creativity is to allow kids to be creative. Kids will survive. But what kind of world will they live in? The best path to a good life is through education.
Thanks,
Hairy Larry