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By Nigel Nassar
AMERICAN gospel star Kirk Franklin on Friday afternoon came face-to-face with hard realities of life in Uganda when he and his 17–member crew failed to manoeuvre their way down a muddy road in Entebbe.
A downpour earlier in the day had left the murram road leading to the African Children’s Choir’s home impassable. The visiting artiste nearly failed to make it to the home as the bus he was on got stuck in the mud.
Accustomed to the smooth roads back home, the Americans on board screamed in fear and the driver stopped the car way before reaching the destination. A quick solution had to be found to get the artiste to the home. One of his bodyguards heaved him onto his back and carried him from the minibus to a four-wheel drive Audi.
Locals, for whom mud does not make news, stared in bewilderment as Franklin’s burly bodyguard carried him.
The gospel artiste, who staged a concert in Kampala on Thursday night and was to stage another on Saturday, finally made it to the home of the orphaned children, to whom proceeds from one of the shows have been donated. Another shower of rain prevented the multi-Grammy Award winning artiste from planting a tree in the home as had been planned.
Still, he danced with the children, who apart from bestowing the title ‘Uncle Kirk’ upon him, sang him songs wishing him and his crew blessings and a safe journey back to America. His crew did not hear the prayers as, afraid to brave the bad road, they stayed behind in the minibus.
Touched by the children’s songs, Franklin said he would organise with other artistes in America to lend a helping hand towards the completion of the construction of their home.
Published on: Saturday, 24th May, 2008
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