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STEVE EMBER: Pihcintu is a word in Passamaquoddy, a language spoken by an American Indian tribe in the northeastern state of Maine. It means "When she sings, her voice carries far." Pihcintu is also the name of a girls chorus in Portland, Maine.

When the girls in the Pihcintu Multicultural Children's Chorus sing about peace, the songs have special meaning for them. Many are refugees from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Their families fled war, oppression and famine.

Their songs contain a message of hope. One song is called "Bells of Freedom."

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"Bells of Freedom" was written by the chorus' director, Con Fullam, and one of its founding members, Judith Abdalla. Ms. Abdalla is eighteen. She was born in Sudan and lived in Egypt before coming to the United States.

JUDITH ABDALLA: "We're singing about peace, about coming together, about stopping the wars back in our native lands, and singing about being able to go back and being able to hold on to our languages and our families."

Another chorus member, Rita Achiro, was also born in Sudan. She was raised in a refugee camp in Kenya.

RITA ACHIRO: "For somebody to hear me sing and be like 'Wow,' it makes me feel good. But I also love having more than one person's voice. Singing as a group, it, like, sends a bigger message."

At any given time, the chorus has as many as thirty members from fourteen different countries, from Iraq to Cambodia. Choral director Con Fullam began recruiting singers from the local schools more than six years ago.