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.