Edward Chao uses camera to document how donations are spent on his high school education

Adonten School Fees / Application

Adonten Exterior

List of compulsory items

Trunk for boarding

locks, cup, plate, calculator, flashlight, toothbrush, slippers, and school uniform

Boarding Fees

Bank Check from Edward to the school

DONATE TO THE SCHOLARSHIP FUND

TO DONATE TO THE SCHOLARSHIP FUND AND SUPPORT EDDIE'S EDUCATION CLICK THE DONATE BUTTON BELOW.

UPDATE AND LETTER FROM EDWARD CHAO

It has been almost five years since I returned home from teaching in Ghana with a bag full of photo negatives and writing created by my students in Ghana. Since then, with your help, we have generated a scholarship fund that has helped nine of my student photographers to pursue their education despite financial restraints. We've partnered with amazing youth organizations like Kodak SNAP Foundation, the School for International Training, and Global Kids to put on photo exhibitions around the world and have raised thousands of dollars to keep these students in school.

All of you have shown your support by helping out at events, making donations, buying prints, offering advice/resources, and spreading the word. We have built something together by being efficient and persistent, forming strong partnerships with educators, community leaders, and media-makers in both continents. In the purest sense, we are truly a grass roots organization-- we have no offices, no paid staff, no 4-wheel drive vehicles roaming the streets of Accra with our logo emblazoned on the door. Every dollar we have raised has gone directly to paying for school fees for our students in Ghana. This year, all eight girls on scholarship are scheduled to graduate from high schools around the country and this is an accomplishment.

Many of you have also been asking about Edward Chao, our ninth scholarship recipient, whose book of photos and writings entitled "I am the only one who saw" we released in 2007. Besides helping to raise money for Eddie's education, Eddie's book has had a real impact  here in the States.  Through outreach programs like "ABC Day" at Explore Charter School in Flatbush Broolyn, Eddie's book has been used in US. classrooms, affording thousands of children in schools around the U.S. an opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a child in West Africa.


Eddie is now 15 years old and he has just completed Hannah Middle School, one of the best private junior high schools in his region. I spoke to him recently, as he was going through the process of applying to high schools through a national lottery, which selects the school he will attend based on his grades and BECE final exam scores. It has not been en easy road for Eddie to get this far in school. His grandmother is very dedicated to supporting his education, but the two of them have very limited resources and have been displaced more than once in the past few years due to land development issues. When I spoke to him last, he was excited to learn that he had been accepted into Adonten, which is a very good high school. He was also eager to know if my "colleagues" and I would continue to support him at this next stage of his education.  I asked Eddie to write a letter to you, his supporters, to update all of you on his progress and to find out for himself. Here are Eddie's words.

To Whom it may concern:

I would like to thank you for the act of generosity all these years. By the grace of God he has given you strength to support  me and send me to Hannah Junior High School,  a private school in the Greater Accra part of Ghana.

Life at Hannah wasn't easy since my family is not financially sound to help but by the help of the almighty they were able to give the little support they could. The management and teachers of Hannah school were supportive and friendly. My favorite class was Form 3:  Room 1 English and this is because it was the class of the best 40 students.

During my final examination, I had problems studying at home due to unavailability of electricity in our house. So I had to study with my friends in other schools. I couldn't always afford all the text books so I had to borrow from my friends. The following are my final scores. 1 is the highest score, based on the scores of all my other classmates.  

           English -1

           Social studies -1

           Mathematics -3

           Science -2

           Twi -3

           French - 2

          B.D.T (Pre-Vocational skills)- 2

For secondary school, I got Adonten Secondary school in the Eastern part of Ghana. It is a boarding school and I intend to read General Arts. After secondary school I want to go to the University to read performing arts since I want to become a professional actor and also a TV presenter.

 I want to say a big thank you to every single person in the organization for their endless support, without you it would have been impossible for me to attend a private school like Hannah.

I can't pay you back but just to show my appreciation and God richly bless you. Keep up the good work.

Sincerely,

Edward Chao

GET INVOLVED!

I write to ask for your support going forward with a commitment I made over five years ago to make sure that Eddie gets a good education. Fees for Eddie's high school will come to a little over $1200 per year. That includes boarding fees, field trips, and essential needs for boarding like a mattress, mess hall set (fork, spoon, knife), etc. Anything we raise above $1200 will go toward next year's fund.

TO MAKE AN ONLINE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO EDDIE'S HIGH SCHOOL  FUND 2010-2011 CLICK HERE

You can also make checks payable to "Deviwo Project" and mail to

Deviwo Project
284 Eastern Parkway #5E
Brooklyn NY 11225

I've informed Eddie that since he got a top score in English, he will be taking over the letter writing campaigns, so you'll be hearing from him more often. What I would love most, if you choose to donate to Eddie's scholarship fund, is for you to include a message of some kind for Eddie. Please feel free to tell him what hopes or expectations you might have of him going forward and what it means to you to have read his words (either in his book or in this letter) and to be a part of helping him complete school. I will make sure he reads these letters and answers any questions you may have in his next correspondence, which will be at midterms this year.

For your donation of $200 or more, you will receive a limited edition signed copy of Eddie's book "I am the only one who saw" AND an 8 X 10 print of Eddie's photograph "Boy on a bike"

For your donation of $100 - $200, you will receive an 8 X 10 print of Eddie's photograph "Atee Heading the Ball"

For your donations of $35 - $100 you will receive a limited edition of Eddie's book "I am the only one who saw" (1 of only 2000 printed copies).

Please help us reach our goal of $1200 for the 2010-2011 school year. DONATE NOW.

Sincerely,

Sam Bathrick

Founder, Deviwo Projects

Global Kids Exhibit December 2008

NEW YORK EXHIBITION DEC. 5, 2008

Global Kids and Deviwo Projects invite you to an exhibition
of Youth Photography from Ghana, West Africa

When: December 5th, 2008 from 6-9 pm
Where: Global Kids Headquarters
137 E. 25th Street New York, New York 10010
Why: Come see photos from the Zongo Junction Youth Photo Program, made possible by the SNAP Foundation.
Prints and photo books for sale make
GREAT HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR A CAUSE

All proceeds benefit a high school scholarship fund for the photographers.

Why Everybody Was Sacked from Zone Ten

by Edward Chao
Draft #2

This picture in which I am standing portrays the crisis of Zone 10, the very land where we lived which was bought and developed. The developers visited each and everyone living around our neighborhood. They informed us of the land and how it has been bought to build a Shell petrol station. People were asked to move from the land. They were astonished and felt hopeless. Before then, many people were moving from far away to settle at our neighborhood. There were shops and houses and families here. But after this news, buildings and shops were brought down without warning. Now each and everyone was moving towards the bushy area to settle at anywhere they found safety to live. With the money from selling my book, my grandmother and I were lucky to move to Ashale Botwe near St. Peter's School, where we are living now. Now, the present Zone-ten is cleared and ready for building. The developers have constructed a foundation and are about to set up a structure. That's the Shell petrol station. In fact, the way some people suffered, especially those with no choice, was very miserable.


"I am the only one who saw" is a collection of Eddie's photos and essays taken from 2004-2006 that documents life in the community Eddie writes about above.

Female scholarship recipients speak about issues facing women in Ghana.

I am the only one who saw in Brooklyn Charter School

I recently spent a morning with some remarkable kids at Explore Charter school in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Using Eddie's book of photos and essays as a guide, we talked about similarities in the experiences of children around the world. I was extremely impressed with these kids, their thoughtful questions and comments and their genuine interest in Eddie's story. ABC DAY at Explore is an opportunity for students to meet and interact with authors, illustrators, filmmakers, and other artists. It was also another amazing opportunity for me to share Eddie's story. Interactive experiences like this are shaping the development of an educational supplement / teacher's guide that will soon be packaged for schools.






Here are some more pictures from the day...

Recording Ewe Storytellers

Deviwo Co-founder and photo instructor Godwin Azameti has been commissioned to record storytellers in his hometown village of Klikor. The project, initiated by Anna Cottrell, is a follow-up to her acclaimed book Once Upon A Time in Ghana, a collection of traditional Ewe stories retold in English (Eastern Daily Press, 2007). All proceeds from the book are being distributed back into the communities where the storytellers live to support community generated projects. For instance, in Anyako, book profits helped buy new boats for fishermen. In Klikor, villagers are constructing a corn mill and cassava grater.

The storytellers project was born in 2006 when Anna, a retired teacher and former cross-cultural solutions volunteer, met Agbotadua Kumassah, retired head teacher and Agbotadua (Deputy Chief) in Dzelukope, who was then running a radio program on Jubilee FM in Keta. (Kumassah currently works alongside the newly enstooled Chief Togbi Tay Agbozo V). With Kumassah's knowledge of Ewe history and traditions, the two began meeting with elders in communities in the Volta Region of Ghana, home to the Ewe People. Once Upon A Time in Ghana is an English recreation of the stories they collected during this period and in Anna's subsequent visits.

This year, Anna has returned to Ghana and has commissioned Godwin to produce sound recordings of storytellers in Godwin's hometown village of Klikor. Anna says she hopes to make these latest recordings available to Ewe speakers in the Diaspora. "I believe its equally important that Ewe speakers can also hear these traditional stories," says Godwin who is collaborating with The SChool for International Training's Academic Director Gavin Webb to engineer the recordings. Godwin's passion for storytelling and the preservation of Ghanaian culture was at the heart of the Zongo Junction Youth Photo Program in 2006.

When I recently spoke to Anna about why she began this project she spoke of wanting to help portray a different side of the Africa she had come to know in her travels--something that for western audiences could transcend the stereotypes of Africa as a land of people in need. "I was interested in looking at the other side of the coin."

Be sure to pick up a copy of Once Upon A Time in Ghana, available on Amazon.

Flood Crisis in N. Ghana: Children of afffected regions photograph their surroundings; SIT student Amanda Sperber reports.

Following six months of drought, intense rainfall over a frive day period in late august 2007 caused major flooding in the Northern Regions of Ghana (Brief by Upper East Regional Minister, Hon. Alhassan Samari 31 August 2007). Ghana's President John Kufour visited the sites on 11 September 2007, declaring the regions disaster zones and launching an appeal for international assistance (Ghanaian Times, 2007).




According to a bbc.com published on 15 September 2007, the flooding killed at least twenty people, and impacted over two hundred thousand. Former head of National Disaster Mobilization George Azi Amoo declared that entire villages had been washed away,



The impact on Ghana's Upper East Region has been tragic. In a statement by the Upper East Regional Minister Alhassan Samari, 12, 200.17 hectares of farmland were destroyed, as were fifty – eight bridges, twenty-nine highway roads, fifty-four feeder roads and 13, 800.55 metric tons of food stuff. The destruction of farmland, crops and the death of livestock presents a major problem for a region already plagued my malnutrition and a population dependent on their land. (Daily Graphic, 2007).





It was explained to me by a community member of Zorko in the Bongo district that until about March, the villagers would normally subsist on locally-produced foods, but because the flooding destroyed so many crops before they could be harvested, people are selling what little assets they have, and buying food from the local market at expensive prices. Citizens have taken up weaving baskets, a tedious craft that normally produces very little income, or have made the decision to send their children South to look for work. As the next harvest won't be until September 2009, the people of the Upper East will be facing food shortages for a long time. This has caused many relief workers including the Regional Secretary of the Ghana Red Cross Joseph Abarike to suggest that famine is imminent.

Reporting by Amanda Sperber
Photographs by Children of the Bongo and Zorko Villages

Deviwo Projects' aspiring journalist, published in Independent Youth Newspaper

Click the image to read Stella's essay.

Deviwo Projects Scholar Stella Apeke, who is currently enrolled at Adonten Senior High School, writes the 50th anniversary of her nation's independence. Apeke, who aspires to be a journalist, is featured here in Indy Kids Newspaper, whose distribution reaches children throughout the world. To read the entire paper, visit Indykids online.

Deviwo Projects Awards High School Scholarships to Eight Female Students from Madina

Bushiratu Abubakar

Memunatu Jumada

Victoria Adisenu

Selina Apeke

Stella Apeke

Aishatu Tijani

Dorcas Amatepe

Patricia Asantewaa

Exhibition at the E-Cong in Atlanta

September 29, 2007 6:00 to 9:00 pm
The event raised over $3,000 for the Deviwo Projects Scholarship Fund...
Prints and books were for sale...
Thanks to all who attended
Photos by Alex Cullen