In the process of completing "Prism" I was given an invitation from some good friends (legendary producer/arrangers Joseph Arthur and Victor Sibusiso Masondo) to go to South Africa to record a Zulu hymn. I ended up making two trips to South Africa, once to record "Masibulele Ku Jesu", and the second trip was to record strings for the whole "Prism" project. 
During the first trip, one of the most profoundly moving experiences we had on our trip to South Africa was visiting Sparrow Village just outside of Johannesburg. Sparrow is an AIDS village for orphaned children. Started by a woman, Rev. Corrine McClintock who began Sparrow by opening her home to abandoned babies who's parents had died of AIDS. Sparrow eventually, through donations, grew to be a little village staffed by incredibly committed people who live and work on the property with such dedication to these kids. Spending the afternoon at Sparrow holding babies in the hospice and playing with the older children running around outside as the sun went down is something I'll never forget.
My fiancé Bob Sherman took amazing pictures of these beautiful children, many of whom would have nowhere to go without Sparrow. Information on how to donate to Sparrow will follow at the end of this page. Please consider sending a donation. The women who work and live in these small huts with these children truly are angels working in the world.
Upon arriving home Bob and I were looking over some pictures that Bob had taken the day we were there. Bob's portraits of these children were so moving, and brought back the whole amazing experience.
On the afternoon that we spent at Sparrow, as we were running around playing with the children we couldn't really grasp the scope of the loss for these kids.
It was an emotional jolt when we got back home and were seeing the pictures again, really seeing the faces of the children for the first time since getting back to our comfortable home. The beauty of their smiles in the face of the outrageousness of their loss hit us both very hard. While we were looking at the photographs, coincidentally in the background my new mix of "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" was playing on the kitchen CD player. That did it. Bob and I decided to put the pictures together with the song and some of the footage shot on video and just try to send it out there into the world like a can opener into the hearts of anyone who may be moved to offer help.
The process of getting this little film edited in the midst of finishing the giant "Prism" project proved to be challenging. But it is finally completed and can be viewed on my website.
Further information about donating to Sparrow can be found here.
Download a brochure about Sparrow Village.
click on any cover
for more information
