I have no constructive options to offer. I’m jus’ saying’ …

You could just hear the guffaws and snickers echoing around the world when it was revealed on Monday that a pretty little girl who won the hearts of many by singing at the Olympics opening ceremony was a fraud.

Little Lin Miaoke, charmed the world by ‘singing’ a rendition of “Ode to the Motherland”. Turned out she was only mining. Lin was selected to replace the original singer, nine-year-old Yang Peiyi who was considered unsuitable for the opening show because she is not pretty. She’s a little chubby and she has crooked teeth.

Here in Uganda we too couldn’t resist but sneak in a little “Eeeeeh? Aaaaaah!” But who are we to point fingers? After all, we are the country that has profited from the marketing of children.

Yes, Uganda knows how to sell its children.

Does this scenario remind you of anything?

A group of well-scrubbed, wide-eyed, bright-faced 7 to 12-year-olds. They’re all dressed in colorful, almost eye-searing ‘African’ garb. The boys are wearing long tunics over black trousers and small caps on their heads. The girls’ dresses have puffy sleeves , tie at the waist and reach to the floor. All of them are wearing brand new black shoes polished to perfection.

These children are all well behaved. They don’t fight with each other or fuss about being hungry or tired or wanting to take a pee. When they enter the stage their angelic smiles light up the room. At a one-two one-two-three-four they burst into song, their sweet voices taking you to the innocent carefree place of your youth. They sing in perfect pitch with perfect accents, after hours of grilling to remove their heavy mother tongue influences. They sing of pain and hope. They sing in Swahili, Luganda, Luo and English. They sing of a future … maybe if you just reached out and touched somebody’s hand …

One of them comes to the front to share his story. He says he was destitute and had no home. At a young age he started doing drugs and stealing for a living. He was doomed to die before his prime were it not for The Benevolent Few that rescued him from the street and gave him a home. The audiences wipe the tears from their eyes and reach into their pockets.

A little girl, the one with the long braided hair, also steps to the front. My mother abandoned me, she says. She was a prostitute and taking care of me would have ruined her business. Her family saw me as a burden and dumped me outside a police station when I was just a few weeks old. I would have died were it not for The Benevolent Few that rescued me and gave me a home. The audiences wipe the tears from their eyes and reach into their pockets.

Oh yes, Uganda knows how to sell its children.

You don’t believe me?

African Children’s Choir, know them? The singing group was born out of a genuine desire by the founders of Ambassadors of Hope to share the story of the millions of suffering children in Africa. The format was simple. The choir would tour a number of locations abroad in which some of the key sponsors of Ambassadors of Hope lived in order to thank them for their support and to raise money for the children’s home.

I went to school with some of the children sponsored by Ambassadors of Hope. Many of them prospered and are leaders in this country. One was even recently a judge on Idols Africa.

The African Children’s Choir model was quickly copied and replicated across the country. What we learned from the Ambassadors of Hope was that children sell. So we, like China, select the beautiful and ones. We select the ones that can sell us the best.

Pretty children make pretty money. Just consider how many children’s choirs now exist in Uganda for the sole purpose of making money abroad.

Some of those with a web presence are:
Hope for Africa Children’s Choir
Masiko Children’s Choir
Mwamba Children’s Choir
Mwangaza Children’s Choir
Pearl of Africa Children’s Choir
Sifa Africa Children’s Choir
The Spirit of Uganda Children’s Choir
The Uganda Children’s Choir
Uganda Orphans’ Choir
Watoto Children’s Choir
And the list goes on …

What is wrong with this? They are doing a good job! They are raising good money for the underprivileged in Uganda. What are you doing? Their mission is higher than any because it is a mission directed by God.

I said it at the beginning. I have no constructive options to offer. I’m jus’ sayin’.

I’m jus’ sayin’ that maybe if you said “Eeeeeeeh! Aaaaaaa!” at China, you were too quick to judge. After all in Uganda, we’re living in the thick of it.

Remember pictures taken by the Scarlett Lion of Stephen the young boy working at a quarry in Kireka? You should read how much interest was generated by the article and the picture of the boy. The same level of attention wasn’t given to the adults mentioned in the article. Why? Children sell. Pretty children sell even more.

The Scarlett Lion wrote a series of thought provoking stories on the culture of the Ik in Karamoja, highlighting their suffering and the looming famine. She accompanied it with beautiful pictures of Ik women. Perhaps she should have thrown in one or two Ik children and the amount of interest given to Stephen would have been directed to the children of Karamoja.

But what do I know? I’m jus’ sayin’ …

I’m jus’ saying that you know I loved the Oscar-nominated documentary War/Dance and said as much here.

Guess where Dominic Akena, one of the stars of the film, spent much of this school term? In Traverse City, Michigan where his days were filled with jet skiing and playing miniature golf. The Traverse City Record-Eagle that reported on his trip claimed Dominic had never heard of sheep before he went to the U.S. to attend a summer camp.

Summer camp for a Ugandan pupil? Summer camp for a Ugandan pupil in the middle of the school term?

I’m jus’ sayin’ …

I’m jus’ sayin’ that I didn’t like the documentary Invisible Children that much. But since it took to the world the plight of the night commuters in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader, maybe the directors of the film are okay. Invisible Children is now a fully fledged humanitarian organization with hundreds of donors. I wonder if it would have garnered that much attention if the documentary focused on men in Northern Uganda, who because of emasculation by a broken society, have become alcoholics, run mad and are severely depressed.

What do I know? I know that children sell. Pretty children sell even more. Shame upon society for blatantly exploiting this etc, etc.

Still, I have no constructive options to offer.

I’m jus’ … you fill in the blanks.