2023-06-03 08:22:14
The children of the Triplets Ghetto Kids troupe have already wowed the judges and viewers of the hit show with their dances, colorful costumes and beaming smiles.
These street children had the chance to cross paths with Dauda Kavuma, a 36-year-old former teacher, who created the Inspire Ghetto Kids Foundation in 2007 in the poor district of Makindye, in Kampala.
Himself from a family of thirty children from six mothers, remembers that he had to fend for himself from an early age following the death of his father, rummaging through the garbage to recover scrap metal or selling fruit to motorists stopped at red lights.
Mr Kavuma told AFP that as a child he started playing football, then a friend encouraged him to take up singing.
“When I sang, I forgot the difficulties in my life,” he says. “Most people think that street children have no value for society, but I think the opposite (…) So I said to myself: What if I used music, dance and theater to help the underprivileged in the ghettos?
His foundation welcomes street children and gives them a roof, meals, clothes and an education.
He helped them form the group ‘Ghetto Kids’ who became an internet sensation in 2014, when their dance video covering the hit ‘Sitya Loss’ by Eddy Kenzo, another Ugandan orphan turned star musician, went viral. .
Their videos on Youtube have been viewed millions of times. The group has won several international awards and has worked with international stars like American Chris Brown and Nigerian afrobeats star Wizkid.
In 2022, the group notably took the stage for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The participation in the BGT final “is huge for us, for Uganda and for Africa”, the foundation posted on its Facebook page following their qualification.
The winner of the show will win a prize of 250,000 pounds (more than 290,000 euros).
Mr. Kavuma says his foundation is funded by donations, revenue from videos on YouTube and TikTok, as well as concerts. “My dream is to have a bigger house to accommodate and help as many street children as possible,” he says.
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