Dance and music throw a lifeline to street kids
Atiik-Luwak Orphanage Cultural dance group does more than simply wow audiences: The dancing and singing troupe of orphans raises funds to cover school fees, shelter, food, and clothing.
Our role is to transform and support these orphans morally and economically,” said the group’s founder Martin Ojok Martin. We want to keep them happy and comfortable, and not to feel like they have a vacuum in their lives.”
Traditional performances offer the kids brief release from their daily hardships, he said.
Paul Omoga
Paul Omoga is the troupe’s longest standing member. He joined in 2005 when he was just eight years old. I have been very happy since I joined the group,” said Omoga who lost both parents during the long-standing war between the north and south of the by then Sudan.
Now, fifteen years old, he is still at school and dreams of becoming an engineer. From the group of 37 orphans, five finished high school and are planning to go to university.
Martin Ojok, now in his thirties, can relate to his young performers. Brought up in an orphanage, he is motivated by his memories of the hard times he witnessed on the street after he lost his parents aged 12.
I grew up in the same conditions, I know what it means to be on the street as an orphan,” he said. He was among the many children who lost their parents during the war.
The chairperson and the Founder of the Atiik-Luwak Group, Martin Ojok.
A Chinese charity organisation helped him off the streets and took him to China where he stayed for nearly 20 years. When he came back in 2004, Martin decided to form an orphanage group to help the destitute children.
As I arrived Juba, I found a lot of children on the streets and as someone with the same background, my heart went out to them. I decided to form this group,” he told The Niles.
Margret Anyiri and Sarah Wani are among the girls who have taken part in the project. Both completed high school with help from their traditional performances.
This group enabled us finished our schooling. Now we are waiting to join the university through our traditional group sponsorship,” Anyiri said.
The Juba-based group currently includes 37 orphans, up from just 10 members in 2005 when it started out.
A traditional instrument used by the Atiik-Luwak Group.
Even though the colourful performances are now well known, the group continues to face numerous challenges such as lack of transportation, high food prices and delayed payments by some of their clients and lack of funding.
The group has gradually become more diverse and inclusive. Initially, the group started performing Acholi traditional dances but they diversified the repertoire as children from different regions of South Sudan joined the troup. This, they say, makes them unique.
These kids are now multi-cultural dancers because when we are invited in other states, we first dance their traditional dances and do our Acholi dances later,” said Juma who is the organiser.
Amid colourful traditional dresses, beards, ostrich feathers and traditional instruments, the performances offer the former victims a rare opportunity to shine.
Through this beautiful culture, the children become more engaged, passionate and enthusiastic,” said the founder.
