Ugandan dance group Ghetto Kids are celebrating another milestone after appearing at the football World Cup final half-time show on Sunday – a life-changing experience summed up by 10-year-old Sierra as “very, very, very, very, very good”. Despite critics bemoaning the addition of a Superbowl-style show to the beautiful game’s biggest event, the children’s performance alongside global stars Burna Boy and Shakira was viewed by many millions around the world. Speaking to the BBC’s Newsday programme, members of the dance troupe and their manager say that rising from humble beginnings in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, then finding fame while balancing it all with schoolwork has taken perseverance.
Listen to your parents, education is first, that’s all,” says Sierra. She and 11-year-old Josephine are still on a high, after their World Cup appearance midway through the game that saw Spain beat Argentina at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. “I saw Messi and Lamine Yamal!” says Josephine about the two team’s stars – Argentinian captain Lionel Messi and Spain’s teenage winger Yamal.
“I was so happy to see Messi and people watching us. I felt so excited and I was smiling, and a little bit nervous,” she recalls. “Shakira, she’s very kind,” chimes in Sierra.
The children gave Colombian pop star Shakira and Nigerian musician Burna Boy a big hug on stage as their performance ended – a moment their manager, Dauda Kavuma, insists was a natural show of affection, rather than clever choreography. Learning they had been picked to perform was a dream come true. The children “ran around in a circle, banging and shouting” when they learned the news, says Kavuma.
“They had already danced to Waka Waka in Britain’s Got Talent,” he explains about Shakira’s remake of the 1980s Cameroonian classic Zangaléwa by Golden Sounds. “But it was now a great moment to see that Shakira invited us… to perform with her. “It means a lot and it’s life-changing.” Kavuma’s philosophy is that there is so much talent in the ghetto, you just have to polish it.
As a child he lived on the streets of Uganda’s capital before the kindness of a teacher changed his life. He wanted to give back and later became a teacher himself before creating the Ghetto Kids dance troupe – formed of homeless children and those who could not afford school fees. Frequent practice is a part of life for t…
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