Jesuit Missions UK

A 30-strong Zimbabwaen children's choir, all of them residents of Makumbi Children's Home have recorded a CD with the London Oratory School Schola, to be released on December 1st, World Aids Day. The single is intended to raise both funds and public awareness of the plight of African children facing the devastating effects of that continent's HIV/AIDS crisis. Proceeds from the CD will go directly to the Makumbi Children's Home.

All of the African children have been orphaned by AIDS and some are themselves HIV-positive. Many of the children have come to stay at the Home having been found abandoned by the side of the road, left there by grandparents or other members of their extended family no longer able to cope with the burden of caring for these young orphans.

The project is being overseen by two of London's most respected music professionals - Lee Ward, Director of Music at the London Oratory School, and Chris Birkett, a music producer who has worked with international stars including Sinead O'Connor, Talking Heads and The Pogues. The London Oratory School Schola's most recent recorded work can be heard on the soundtrack of the Christmas blockbuster movie The Golden Compass. On December 1st the Schola is performing in a Requiem Concert for World Aids Day at Cadogan Hall, (www.cadoganhall.com) London, raising funds for AIDS charities.

Ward and Birkett travelled to Zimbabwe in mid-November to record the Zimbabwean choir, before returning to London to add the voices of the London boys. The trip to record the choir in Zimbabwe was organised and part-financed by Jesuit Missions in London: the Makumbi orphanage was established by the Jesuits and currently cares for over 100 children from 0-18 years old.

For more information about the orphanage, see www.jesuitmissions.org.uk/zimbabwe/Makumbi.htm .

Further information:

Ashleigh Callow 020 8946 0466 Hal Broadbent 020 7408 7112 or Cillian de Buitlear on 020 8232 3567