TUIMBE!: "Gifts from Africa!"

More than 50 singers and a 10 marimba players will present "Gifts from Africa."

Concerts will be held in Bonners Ferry at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday,  May 8 and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 30, at 3 pm at Trinity Lutheran on Cody St.

The concert is a collection of African music and American music which exists only because of the music which has come to us through Africa.  "TUIMBE!" ("Let's sing!" in Swahili) is a choir formed specifically for this concert series  

The choir is raising funds for a school in Ulanga Kilombero, Tanzania. Donations to support the education of these children in Tanzania will be gathered at each concert.

The Coeur d’ Alene concert was a great beginning, with $1,600 gathered in donations.

 In October a dozen of the Tuimbe choir members will travel to Ulanga Kilombero at their own expense to celebrate the donation to the school and make music together with the students at Tumaini.

The concert will also include performances by the award winning Bonners Ferry children's choir "Swingin' on a Star" and a brand new Bonners Ferry Marimba Band.

The Tuimbe choir is a special project of the Bonners Ferry Community Choir.

All are conducted by Vicki Blake. She has toured around the world with her choirs to villages in China, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Australia, the old USSR, Poland, East Germany, Austria, and Ireland.

Her high school choir ARIOSO was chosen to be highlighted at the NW Region MENC gathering for music teachers in Portland, Ore., and her adult choir Wild Mountain Thyme has been selected to perform at international festivals in Newfoundland and British Columbia.

Raising funds for a gathering space and a dining hall for Tumaini School.  Tumaini means hope in Swahili.  

The Tanzania synod where the school is located is considered a companion synod to northern Idaho. It is the goal of companion synods to walk hand in hand supporting and learning from each other.