Concert for cancer patients

The TWA choir during a past performance. Photo/COURTESY  

In Summary
•A weekend of concerts featuring a choir of more than 190 volunteers and some guest performers is staged every year to coincide with the Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
•The 2013 Twakutukuza Choir in Concert takes place at the Braeburn Theatre on Gitanga Road beginning Friday at 7pm and continuing with two shows at 3pm and 6.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
•The Charity is the brainchild of Doris Mayoli who won a battle with breast cancer five years ago.

By BILL ODIDI
More by this Author
The American Cancer Society says there is scientific evidence that, when used with conventional treatment, music can help reduce the pain, anxiety and nausea caused by cancer treatment.

Here in Kenya, an ensemble of singers has, for the last six years, actively used music to support the care and treatment of people living with cancer.

A weekend of concerts featuring a choir of more than 190 volunteers and some guest performers is staged every year to coincide with the Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

More than 160 cancer patients in the country have so far been supported from the proceeds of these concerts. The 2013 Twakutukuza Choir in Concert takes place at the Braeburn Theatre on Gitanga Road beginning Friday at 7pm and continuing with two shows at 3pm and 6.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

NAMED AFTER SWAHILI PHRASE

Named after the Swahili phrase meaning “We exalt you” Twakutukuza Trust was set up for the benefit of people struggling with cancer that has become one of the biggest killers in the country.

Their biggest fund raising activity is a three-day musical concert led by the Twa Choir and a host of star performers as well as regular visits to patients at The Nairobi Hospice and to children at the Cancer Ward at the Kenyatta National hospital.

The Charity is the brainchild of Doris Mayoli who won a battle with breast cancer five years ago.

During her treatment, which began in 2005, she witnessed firsthand the tribulations that cancer patients go through in raising money for radiotherapy and chemotherapy, not to mention the high cost of drugs.

Through her journey with cancer, Doris was inspired by local and international performers and their music became an important part of her healing process.

'MANY SONGS SPOKE TO ME'

“Many songs spoke to me, encouraged me and even when I was feeling ugly, the lyrics would remind me how precious I am.”

The choir at Nairobi Baptist Church organised a concert and raised money to support her treatment both at home and in South Africa which cost upwards of Sh3 million. After three years of treatment, Doris was declared cancer free.

Inspired by the story of Doris’s battle with cancer, musician Kanji Mbugua, whose own sister Muthoni Mwiti was also diagnosed with cancer, recorded a song titled “Dream Again” in February 2010. The uplifting, reggae flavoured song was co-written by Kanji, Richard Njau, Michelle Kwambo, Ciiru Karanja, Jaya Awinja, Christopher Bupe, Kerah Kirangi and produced by Gideon Kimanzi.

As an acknowledgment of the role music had played in her recovery, Doris got together a group of friends, family and volunteers and formed the Twa Choir to perform some of the songs that gave her hope and encouragement during her treatment.

Thus, the first Twakutukuza concert was held in 2008.

These charity concerts have been held every year since then to share the triumphant story of Doris’ healing and spreading hope.

The single mother of two also wrote a blog of her daily struggles and eventual triumph during the course of her treatment and these stories have been chronicled in a book titled “Ashes to Beauty”

Doris and the Twa choir have been rehearsing a range of spiritual songs based on the story of the life and eventual reign of victory over disease.

They hope the three concerts can powerfully illustrate the struggle patients, families and friends walk through as their loved ones fight cancer.

Clad in their trademark black and orange colours, the choir will feature a host of well-known guest performers including Contemporary Christian music veteran Pete Odera, Kanji Mbugua, Atemi Oyungu, Kambua Mathu, Charles Righa, Enid Moraa, Lisa Oduor-Noah and Wanja Wahoro.

For the last several months, there has been a huge number of singers volunteering to join the performance, including groups of choirs.

After last year’s concerts that took place at the Prestige Plaza in Nairobi, the shows have been shifted to the more purposefully built Braeburn Theatre that provides a better performance atmosphere.

The Twa Choir will stage five shows across the weekend with the VIP show opening this evening and the family show concluding the event on Sunday.

This story first appeared in the Business Daily