PORT ANGELES — Lunch on Veterans Day was a singing, beaming, dancing affair at Laurel Park, the assisted living home at 1133 E. Park Ave., thanks to the Matsiko World Orphan Choir.
The choir, composed of 17 Liberian and Peruvian girls and boys, sang 10 songs — including a highly animated “La Bamba” — for the Laurel Park residents, including many veterans, as a wrap-up to a 26-state tour.
“You don’t have to adopt us,” proclaimed singer Veronika Paye, 12, at Monday’s lunch, which was offered free to veterans and active-duty members of the military.
Paye went on to explain that the International Children’s Network (www.ICNChildren.net), based in Kent, looks instead for sponsors to help youngsters go to school — all the way through university — in countries from Uganda to India.
The choir members will return to their home countries later this month, said David Genner, sound technician, van driver and chaperone for the singers, who range in age from 8 to 14.
Before Laurel Park, the choir sang in churches and nursing homes across the Northwest, including several in Sequim.
Matsiko means hope in a Ugandan tribal language, Genner added.
“Hope is what they’re spreading,” he said.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
