The Mender of Lost Hearts
Child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo lead grim lives -- they're forcibly recruited to serve with government forces or rebel troops in a long and bloody civil conflict that's ravaged the region for years.
2009 / Samite Mulondo / Steve McNally / Dispatches, CBC, Canada
Child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo lead grim lives -- they're forcibly recruited to serve with government forces or rebel troops in a long and bloody civil conflict that's ravaged the region for years.
Samite Mulondo, a musician and activist, works with children who've been rescued from their servitude and helps them share their powerful memories and stories through song.He offers them a mic and a chance to perform, and tries, as he says, "to bring them closer to a place that's been taken away from them."
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Samite Mulondo grew up in Uganda where he started playing music at an early age. His teachers recognized his talent and encouraged his musical development. Samite is known across Africa for his original compositions on kalimba (finger-piano), marimba (wooden xylophone), litungu (seven-stringed Kenyan instrument), and both western and traditional African flutes. In addition to his musical career, Samite founded Musicians for World Harmony, a non-profit that promotes peace through music, especially among people displaced in situations of war. Samite now lives in New York.
Steve McNally has worked in radio for more than 20 years, primarily as a news reporter. After moving within Canada, he moved to Moscow and Jerusalem with his wife, working as a freelancer for ABC, Marketplace, and CBC Radio. Back in Canada he joined the CBC national news room in Toronto and, because of his experience abroad, was assigned to the Dispatches program last year.