Eastern Cape Children’s Choir – Help us tour to Europe, please!

EASTERN CAPE CHILDREN’s CHOIR 13^th INTERNATIONAL TOUR TO GERMANY AND LUXEMBOURG

Your contribution, no matter how small, can give a child the opportunity of a lifetime.

The Eastern Cape Children’s Choir (ECCC) is a multi-cultural organization, representative of all races, with members from across the entire socio-economic spectrum. The choir (est.1982) consists of 50 – 60 members between the ages of 11 and 15 years. Currently about 30 schools from across the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan area and surrounding towns, such as Jeffreys Bay, Patensie, Addo and Kirkwood, are represented in the choir.

The ECCC plans to conduct its 13^th international concert tour during September/October 2018, having toured mostly every two years since 1982. The 18-day long itinerary includes München, Stuttgart, Freiburg, Trier and Schmelz in Germany, from where we will travel to Luxembourg and Belgium. It will be the seventh time the ECCC visits Germany and the choir’s first time in Luxembourg.

The reason why we, the choir management, believe that international tours are important, include:

• The promotion of cultural exchange. In addition to an extensive sight-seeing programme, the choir makes use of home hosting, which allows the children to meet people from other cultures and learn through ‘living it’.
• To provide talented children with an opportunity to perform on an international stage in front of knowledgeable and appreciative audiences. At least 15 members (approx. 25%) of our current choir are unable to meet the financial requirements of the tour.
• To further develop the life skills acquired through membership of the choir. These include listening skills, attention, self-discipline, teamwork, tolerance and consideration for others, communication skills, independence and self-reliance.
• To act as ambassadors for our city, region and country. The musical programme consists of a wide repertoire ranging from Western classical (sacred and profane) to traditional African music.

Unfortunately, the success of the tour is now being threatened by a lack of funding as a direct result of the choir composition having become representative of the country’s population and socio-economic standing.

At the price of R 25 000.00 (everything included except pocket money) per child the tour price is as reasonable as can be, but in the absence of corporate sponsorships, the choristers’ parents are responsible for the payment of their own child(ren)’s tour cost. This is obviously out of reach for our choristers from disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances, and, with the current economic pressures, many of the parents who can afford the annual choir fees, have also indicated that they are experiencing difficulties in raising the necessary funds.