Right: Berwick Church of Christ senior pastor Barry Cutchie and events coordinator Charmaine Vis are looking forward to the concert fundraiser.
By Chris Brown
BERWICK Church of Christ is raising $19,000 to build a house for orphaned children in Uganda, Africa.
The commitment to fund the house was made last year after the Watoto Children’s Choir performed in the church.
Most of the children in the choir are orphans. There are more then one million orphans in Uganda mainly because of the AIDS pandemic.
“You realise how much we have in Australia and here was something practical we could do to help them in their time of need,” senior pastor Barry Cutchie said.
The choir is returning to perform at the church this month.
“It’s a 90minute concert of traditional African songs and some Christian songs. And it’s always a very energetic, enthusiastic, joyfilled presentation,” Mr Cutchie said.
Children in the choir travel around the world with adult leaders and have performed in the USA and the United Kingdom.
The finished house will be home for four girls, four boys and a house parent.
This allows the children to live in a family environment until adulthood.
The house will be part of a Watoto village, which is a community with schools, a medical clinic and a hall. Watoto means “children” in Swahili.
Mr Cutchie said raising the money for the house is an exciting challenge and a practical way of helping children in need.
He encourages the community to come and support the choir and the house fundraising.
The Watoto Children’s choir will perform at 7.30pm on Friday, 21 July at Berwick Church of Christ, Centre Road, Berwick.
Entry is free.
For more details phone the church on 9702 1011.
Money collected on the night will go towards the house in Uganda.
