This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

Kenya Jirani Choir Charms Fort Lee Audience

The Kenyan children of the Jirani Choir spread a message of hope and global understanding through their voices.

The Kenya Jirani Choir performed at the Fort Lee Community Center Tuesday evening as part of a U.S. concert tour called “The Unstoppable Song of Hope.” The Choir captivated the Fort Lee audience with their angelic voices and a unique message of hope and community.   

“When I first saw them, my mind took me to Kenya,” said Fort Lee resident Claribel Kwon. “Sometimes we forget that there are kids suffering from poverty, but if we work together, those kids would have more hope.”

The Kenya Jirani Choir began in 2006 in the Korogocho-Dandora slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Jirani’s founder is a Korean missionary, Rev. Tae-Jong Rim, who was inspired after seeing young children picking through trash heaps in search of food in Nairobi.

Find out what's happening in Fort Leewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to the Jirani Cultural Organization, their primary mission is to “give these children the opportunity to grow as global leaders for the next generations – not leaders who solely have a better quality of life, but leaders who make the world more beautiful, where people are taught to work together to resolve any and all sorts of conflicts between nations, races, and religions.”

Christine Yoon, a public relations representative for the East region Jirani Cultural Organization in the U.S., says the main purpose of the Fort Lee concert was to comfort and share hope, especially for people who are facing economic challenges.

Find out what's happening in Fort Leewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We’ve been hearing so [much] sad news these days,” Yoon said about the economy. “But these young children actually lived in the dumps of Kenya and created a choir out of the slums. They are living testimonies of hope. We are hoping that the audience will get that message out of the concert so they can positively influence the reality they are facing.”

Global understanding among different nations, races and religions is a significant message of the Jirani Choir.

The Jirani Cultural Organization headquarters is located in Seoul, South Korea, and the majority of workers and supporters of the organization are Korean.

In August 2010, the Kenya Jirani Choir welcomed a new member to the Jirani family, establishing the Harlem Jirani Ensemble, which the organization describes as "a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, vocal, instrumental and dance ensemble designed to embrace, empower and equip the next generation of global leaders arising from Harlem."

“We are three different ethnic background groups,” Yoon said. “We have different ethnic backgrounds with different cultures, languages and different situations. But we are all working together to make peace and to build a bridge to connect each other, and that’s really the message behind the Jirani Choir.”

Simon Peter Okoth, who sings mezzo soprano in the Jirani Choir, says Jirani helped him recover his dreams.

“I did not know if I could have a dream because I came from the slums,” Okoth said. “Jirani has given me hope, and I feel happy when we give other people hope.”

Fort Lee residents seemed to embrace the Jirani Choir’s message of hope and cherish the sense of community the choir inspired.

“It puts our own problems into perspective,” said Claudia Montes of Fort Lee. “The children of the Jirani Choir just prove that hope is possible in any situation, and I feel we can really learn from them. There’s a lot to take away from this experience.”  

Steven Izzard, a 15-year Fort Lee resident and teacher at Julliard said he cancelled his own out-of-town plans to attend the concert Tuesday.

“It’s overwhelming,” Izzard said. “To see all of us get together as one is just very promising. I’ve come to just about every other concert and I think this is the most people I’ve ever seen. This is amazing. It’s kind of touching; I feel full right now.”  

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?