By Daniele Foti-Cuzzola
Moving to a foreign country is never easy.
The hardships of assimilating into a new culture whilst maintaining your ties to your homeland is no simple task, and for both Bibiana Kwaramba and Isabel Mutoya, the move to Perth was made more difficult as even Mass felt unfamiliar to them.
“When I first came here in 2006, it was hard to keep my faith,” says Bibiana.
“Mass felt dull compared to what I was used to coming from a lively African background,” she recalls.
Mrs Kwaramba and Ms Mutoya migrated to Perth in the early 2000’s from Zimbabwe and Zambia respectively.
Both were active members of their parish choirs back home and enjoyed praising God and evangelising through song, but both were disheartened after migrating to find that the lively African musical style they were accustomed to was not represented anywhere within the Archdiocese of Perth.
Despite her disappointment, Mrs Kwaramba continued to attend Mass at her Floreat Parish and one day was approached by another parishioner to prepare music in her native language for an upcoming Mass.
“That was the first time I sang in my language in Australia and it was with my whole family. “Myself, my husband and my three sons.
Mrs Kwaramba said she wasn’t nervous about how the vibrant African hymns would be received, but was more concerned about making mistakes and distracting the congregation’s attention from the priest.
“The choir helps direct the congregation, but the Priest leads and I knew I had to be on the ball. I was so nervous about making a mistake. And I then saw people light up as soon as we started singing and there was just so much excitement.”
That Mass had a profound impact on Mrs Kwaramba.
“I remembered when I was back home in Zimbabwe and a priest once said, ‘if you were to ever move to another country would you go and sing in your language in a choir or just sit at the back and hide?’
“And in that moment I felt like I was being called to sing in my language at Mass.”
However, it wasn’t until Mrs Kwaramba had a chance encounter with a Zambian priest who was visiting Perth after attending World Youth Day in Sydney, that she met other like-minded African migrants including Isabel Mutoya, that they decided to work together to bring their beloved African hymns to the Archdiocese of Perth.
“I thought why can’t we come together to sing in our language? And everybody agreed. We all felt going to Mass wasn’t the same without the music and we needed to bring our traditions and culture to mass here because it would also be good for our children,” she said. After recruiting a few more members, The African Choir made their debut at the 2009 New Year’s Day Mass at St Thomas the Apostle Parish in Claremont and the congregation were so in awe of the passionate performances that they requested the choir return every week.
“We are all from different Parishes,” Mrs Mutoya explains.
“So we sing at our own parishes in the morning and then sing at St Thomas in Claremont on the Third Sunday of the month, St Gerard in Westminster on the first Sunday of the month and St Brigid’s in Midland on the fifth Sunday of the month.”
Their monthly performances have become increasingly popular.
“People love it,” Mrs Kwaramba says.
“This one man in Claremont said, ‘I didn’t understand a word you were singing, but it touched me and I really felt the presence of God.”
And while performing so many times throughout the month is a big commitment, the two women do it for their love of God and love of music.
“For me, singing is one way of praising God and one way of evangelising,” Mrs Mutoya explains.
“God has given us different gifts and we have to use them accordingly, and I know God has given me the gift of singing and I am going to use that talent to praise God and evangelise,” she says.
“People sometimes think Africans should be crying all the time, because of the difficulties we’ve faced, but if someone has faced difficulties, then singing helps you ease that pain,” says Mrs Kwaramba.
“Singing is part and parcel of life for an African person. When we sing it comes from the heart. If I’m not singing to myself, I am singing to God. And to sing is to worship God,” she explains.
The two hope the choir will continue to expand and hope the younger African generation will get involved.
“It’s a beautiful tradition,” Mrs Kwaramba says.
“And it’s really beautiful because it shows just how diverse our Catholic Church is.”
If you are interested in joining the African Choir contact Bibiana Kwaramba via email at bkwaramba@hotmail.com
From pages 18 and 19 from Issue 7: ‘Dominic Perissinotto: Growing in faith, with music’ of The Record Magazine