Quiet New England church vibrates with energy of Watoto Choir group

SALISBURY — “They say I have a lot of energy,” said the Rev. Diane Monti-Catania, pastor of the Salisbury Congregational Church, after an ebullient performance by the Watoto Children’s Choir Sunday, May 22. “But this space will never be the same.” The Falls Village Congregational Church, North Canaan Congregational Church and  Salisbury Congregational Church hosted the concert, which was a fundraiser for orphans in the African nation of Uganda. Ashley DeMazza (a teacher at North Canaan Elementary School) was the prime mover in getting the group here. She said she found out about the choir a few years ago, when a friend played her a recording.DeMazza made inquiries, but they didn’t seem to go anywhere until a few months ago, when the group’s tour schedule brought them to this part of the country.According to the group’s website, “the Watoto Children’s Choirs have traveled internationally since 1994 as advocates for the estimated 50 million children in Africa, orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS, war, poverty and disease.”The 21 children in the choir, all schoolchildren who participate for six months at a time, plus their chaperones (four young men and women in their 20s) performed in African costume and supplemented their singing (to a backing track) with live drumming and a slide show.One small boy told his story, of his mother who died, of how he and his two sisters made their way to the nearest city and lived on the street, and of how the police picked them up and got them to the Watoto organization.It was an unusual sight for a quiet New England church — almost two dozen youngsters in African garb, dancing and singing up a storm, in unison, and on a very small stage.The leaders got the audience into the act as well. People dancing in the pews and balconies is not an ordinary sight at the Salisbury Congregational Church.Andrea Downs of Falls Village organized a post-concert dinner, and the children in the choir stayed two nights with host families in the three towns.For more information, go to www.watoto.com.