Category: Blog

On the 4^th of August 2011, I attended the ‘Adventurers in the Diaspora Series’ at Accra’s Golden Tulip. The topic for discussion was “Revitalising Ghana’s National Museum of Arts”, and judging by the huge turnout the subject was clearly of interest to a large number of people. There were several ‘distinguished’[1] persons on the panel. This is how members of the panel were described in the event posted on Facebook:

 

“Mrs. Frances Ademola -artist and owner of Ghana’s first private art gallery, the LOOM

Mr. Seth Dei—Ghana’s largest collector of contemporary art and whose Dei foundation supports various Ghanaian artists and indigenous high-tech initiatives. He is also a partner at Blue Skies industry, a pre-eminent agro-business based in several countries around the world.

Hon. Fritz Baffour, MP- Chairman of the Museum board

Hon. J.S. Annan (MP)- Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry and ex-Minister for Education

Prof, Atukwei Okai- Secretary General of Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) and professor of African literature

David Adjaye- principal of Adjaye Associates, a world-leading architecture firm based in London and New York.

Kofi Setordji- reknowned artist and sculptor, co-director of Nubuke Art Gallery”

 

I feel like there were a lot more panelists at the actual event than described above, and I cannot remember Professor Okai being there (but I could be mistaken).

 

A couple of the panelists struck me for diverse reasons. Frances Ademola struck me, because she is a woman artist, the founder of an Art gallery and was credited by many members of the panel as the one who had nurtured their appreciation of Art, yet I had no prior knowledge of the existence of either her or her art gallery. David Adjaye because I have heard so much, and read so much about this award winning Ghanaian British architect yet I had no idea that he even visited Ghana or was in any way active here[2] and finally Kofi Setordjii because he gave a compelling call to action when he spoke.

 

At the end of the evening I was having a drink with one of my artist friends – he’s a photographer, likes to strum the guitar, writes and has an amazing eye for fashion and style.

 

Me: I want to go and check out the Museum of Arts, I had no idea one even existed.

 

Him: Yes, let me know when you want to go and we’ll make a trip of it.

 

Me: I want to see what potential there could be for AWDF to work with the Museum. We want to build an African Women’s Museum but we’re putting that on the backburner for now. Maybe we can fund an exhibition of women artists.

 

Him: [laughing] Which women artists?

 

Me: Yeah, that’s the point isn’t it? I am sure there are women artists everywhere but we don’t know about them. And it depends how you think about art – there is photography, fashion, writing…

 

Him: True. A lot of the time people do not think of photography as art…

Our conversation got me thinking. Who are the African women artists and where are they? I am especially interested in African women artists who use their art as a tool to provoke social consciousness. I started to create a mental list of African women artists that I know are doing this and then I thought, “I should blog about this and ask people to add to the list”. So that’s what I’m doing. My list is only going to comprise of people that I know in some way, and for the sake of brevity I will highlight only 10 African women artists. Either I have read their books, watched them perform, heard them speak, seen a trailer for their movie or engaged with them in some way – even if it’s only been via twitter 🙂

 

Do me a favour and add on to this list in the comments box. Let’s track who the African women artists are, what they do, and where they are.

 

Here’s my list:

 

• Frances Ademola? – I’m a bit confused as to whether to add her to the list. Is she an art gallery owner or an artist? Is the owner of an art gallery also an artist because they have an artistic eye or does an artist always create? AiD’s programme described her as an artist but in googling her I have come across this interview, which quoted her as saying, “I’m the eye of the buyer. It’s a good thing that I’m not an artist”[3]

 

• Nneka – Nigerian/German songstress who sings in English and Pidgin about the need for Africans to take responsibility for the problems we face on the continent (The Uncomfortable Truth), jogs our collective memory on the issues confronting Nigerian society whilst reminding us of the importance of remembering Ken Saro Wiwa and the causes for which the prominent environmental activist died , (Soul is Heavy) and the need for us all to recognize our inherent beauty (Beautiful). Nneka agreed in 2010 to work as an Arts Ambassador for AWDF and I’m really looking forward to exciting collaborations between her and AWDF

 

• Yvonne Chaka Chaka – One of Africa’s most powerful voices who also lends her support to many admirable initiatives. Yvonne Chaka Chaka sits on the AWDF South Africa board, is a member of the African Women Leaders Network for Reproductive Health, serves as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Malaria and also has her own NGO, The Princess of Africa Foundation. I personally met Yvonne when she attended AWDF’s 10^th anniversary celebrations in November 2010 and I was struck by how nice Yvonne was as a person. Sometimes when you meet huge stars you’re disappointed because they act like divas but Yvonne is niceness personified.

 

• Wanuri Kahiu –I get most of my updates on Wanuri via her twitter handle @wanuri . I have seen the trailer for her film Pumzi and unfortunately missed an opportunity to see the full length film at the last Environmental Film Festival of Accra yet what I have seen of her trailer has been enough to convince me that this is the type of work that organizations like AWDF need to fund if we are going to use the arts as a tool for gender empowerment. In researching Wanuri further I came across her blog and it looks like she is not only nifty with the camera but with words too.

 

• Ama Ata Aidoo – Where do I start from when it comes to this doyenne of African literature? Like many people in Ghana, I first came across Ama Ata Aidoo in secondary school as “Dilemma of a Ghost” and “Anowa” were on our reading list. At university I decided to write my dissertation on the concept of ‘home’ as seen through the works of Ama Ata Aidoo and Buchi Emecheta (another stalwart of African women’s literature). In 2008, I met Auntie Ama face to face and was thrilled to be able to interview her for AWDF’s very first e-newsletter.

 

• Asa – I have been told Asa is my lookalike but that’s not why I have included her on this list 🙂 Recently I’ve heard one of her songs, which touches on the issue of sexual abuse. Please let me know what the title is if you know the song I’m describing – she sings about a young girl who has been abused and somehow the girl’s Father is involved.

 

• Jessica Horn – Jessica is a personal friend, poet and an all round inspiration to me. She’s the author of “Speaking in tongues” and a dynamic member of the African Feminist Forum’s steering committee. Jessica is also a women’s rights consultant focusing on issues of health, women’s rights and social change

 

• Leila Djansi – I first heard of Leila when her film “Sinking Sands” came out. I eventually watched ‘Sinking Sands’ with a friend and immediately afterwards was interviewed by Joy Fm for our perspectives on the film. Although we liked many aspects of the film we both felt that it’s a shame the male lead had what many may perceive as an excuse to be violent to his wife, especially as domestic violence is such an every day occurrence all over the word. Despite this, and upon continued reflection on the film I feel that ‘Sinking Sands’ is an important milestone in the Ghanaian film industry. The lead actress Ama K Abebrese did an amazing job and was well rewarded with an African Movie Award for Best Actress in a lead role. Kudos to Leila for highlighting the issue of domestic violence.

 

• Yaba Badoe – ‘The Witches of Gambaga’ is a powerful documentary, which brings us the real life stories of women condemned to live as witches at the Gambaga camp in Northern Ghana. I first saw this documentary at the 3^rd African Feminist Forum in Dakar, Senegal, and subsequently at its premiere in Ghana. ‘The Witches of Gambaga’ always provokes a variety of reactions in the audience – shock, disbelief that women are accused of witchcraft in this day and age, and a strong desire to change the status quo. It is my hope that this documentary remains a powerful tool for creating a more just world for women and men.

 

So in your opinion where all the African women artists who use their art as a tool for social justice and the empowerment of women?

 

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Programme Officer for Fundraising & Communications

AWDF

 

In March 2011, AWDF recognised Professor Abena Busia as one of 50 inspirational African feminists so I am especially delighted that her achievements are being celebrated publicly (and in her lifetime) on Wednesday, 29th June from 5.30pm-8.30pm at the National Theater in Accra, Ghana.

Professor Busia in my opinion is an extremely multi talented individual. She wears many hats (and wears them with elegance). Prof Busia is:

• A Professor of Literature at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA
• A critically acclaimed poet
• Co-director of “Women Writing Africa” – which has been described as a cultural restoration and publishing project which hopes to restore African Women’s voices to the public sphere
• A feminist activist – she has been involved with AWDF since its inception and currently sits on the AWDF USA board
• An inspiration and mentor to many young women including myself

If you are in Accra on the 29th of June make it a point to attend ‘Celebrating Abena Busia: Works and Achievements’ at the National Theatre. Its a free event! Further details in poster below

 

By: Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Communications Officer,

AWDF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AWDF has been working in diverse ways to ensure that women play an active role in transforming their lives, families, communities, nations and the world to ensure social justice and equal opportunity for all.

A number of factors contribute to the continuous perpetuation of the subjugation of women. Lack of education, employment, skills, opportunities and income are some of the factors that prevent women from extricating themselves from the patriarchal systems and culture that so often plague many communities and cultures. Increases in the acquisition of skills has been linked to creating conditions for ensuring income earning opportunities for women that helps them to break through many of the patriarchal systems that have been built in society. Skills’ training is one way of empowering girls and young women to prepare them to take advantage of income earning opportunities. However most of these young women after acquiring the skills are unable to access the funds that will help them to set up income earning ventures.

The AWDF has over the years supported not only the skills training of women but have also supported the provision of start-up capital either in the form of equipment or funds to ensure that women who receive skills and entrepreneurial training are able to set up viable ventures that will improve their income and consequently their status in the family and community.

A signpost for “Alima Couture Mixte Coupe sur Measure” welcomes the visitor to the modest but very busy dressmaking shop set up by Alima Lemane, a 27 year old graduate of a vocational training centre run by the Association Catholique pour le Developpment Social (ACDS) based in Burkina Faso, a grantee partner of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF). AWDF over the years has been supporting ACDS to provide different kinds of skills training to young women. In 2009, AWDF supported ACDS to provide start up equipments for its graduating class. Alima was one of the beneficiaries of this support and received a sewing machine on graduation, which proved to be the catalyst for her business today.

With the machine received Alima set out to practice her trade. Through dint of hard work she was able to save and succeeded in renting a shop where she currently carries out her trade. Alima’s expertise led to an invitation by the ACDS to support their training programmes. Alima therefore presently supports the training of students at her alma mater. She is at the vocational centre from 7.20 am every working day till 11.00am when she goes to start her daily tasks at her dressmaking shop. Alima is passionate about passing her dressmaking skills to other young women and continues to work at the vocational centre despite her own growing sewing centre. In order to keep her dressmaking shop active and to ensure that she does not disappoint her numerous customers, Alima has gone into partnership with a young tailor. They now have a partnership with Alima being the senior partner. The partnership allows Alima’s venture to produce clothing for women and men and also ensures that Alima’s shop stays open with customers orders fulfilled whilst Alima continues to give back to society.

The 2009 grant that AWDF awarded to the Association Catholique pour le Developpment Social covered start-up capital for trainees and the purchase of sewing and catering equipment for the training centre. The funding also supported the integration of other life skills training such as education in reproductive health issues that covered HIV/AIDS, relationships and women’s right issues. This prepared the young women to claim ownership of their rights; especially their reproductive rights as they testified about their ability to presently take informed decisions about their reproductive health and being able to negotiate reproductive rights.

Alima’s status has improved within the family and community. Today she is more assertive and confident. Alima and her colleagues who have obtained new skills are going to be more visible in their communities and they would be better able to negotiate for the public sphere and play a stronger role in decision making.

 

 

By Beatrice Boakye-Yiadom

Grants Manager

AWDF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The amazing Sylvia Tamale has edited a new reader on ‘African Sexuality’ which I just cannot wait to get my hands on. This reader is published by Pambazuka Press. Click African Sexualities a reader for details of this reader.

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Communications Officer (AWDF)

In April, Zee and l set off on a trip to Zimbabwe and Malawi to monitor women’s organisations that have received grants from AWDF in the last 3 years. Preparations for this visit started in February amidst mixed feelings of anxiety and fear especially about visiting Zimbabwe. There were also additional challenges including some difficulties communicating with grantees in a timely manner, visa issues, and then came the big one; a mix up of Zee’s name on her air ticket two days to our departure.

Having overcome all the hurdles, we were set for Harare. We had no particular expectations of Zimbabwe. Why? Because we relied so much on negative media hype about Zimbabwe and Uncle Mugabe. On the 10^th of April 2011 our plane landed on the territorial borders of Zimbabwe. Wow! It was simply breathtaking, the airport better than most stable African countries l have been to. The green vegetation, the organised city, tarred roads, clean environment, the infrastructure, the warm people; l was just overwhelmed by most of the things l saw. I had a blank mind about what kind of infrastructure to expect, l was highly prejudiced by western media hype and all the negativities about how collapsed the state is.

Unlike most African countries l have been to, we didn’t have to go through the problem of converting dollars into local currency, thanks to the “dollarisation” of the Zimbabwean dollar, it was simply transactions made easy! You could transact business in US dollars anywhere, anytime. Hey but it also had its bad side, we had to deal with getting rid of the extremely old notes by making sure that all of it was used up in Zimbabwe. No bank will accept the over used tired looking US dollar notes from Zimbabwe and obviously not AWDF’s finance department. The other is the issue of change in smaller notes or shillings which were just not available. Be ready to receive your change in the form of coupons or asked to take some sweets at the payment counter! As for the high cost of living we are better off not talking about it, again it is not comparable to any Africa country l have visited. But again it is understandable because of the long economic blackout the country has faced from 2000.

Our Monitoring & Evaluation visit to Zimbabwe encompassed 18 0rganisations including Hope for Africa Katswe Sisterhood, Women in Law in Southern Africa Research and Education Trust (WLSA Zimbabwe), The Women’s Trust (TWT), Creative Centre for Communication and Development (CCCD) and Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe (WFOZ). Most women’s organisations visited in Zimbabwe are just awesome and braving the odds to make impact. Their resilience and determination are encouraging and admirable.

“We find creative ways of making women’s voices heard around GBV issues whilst protecting their identity using the mobigater during the tense moments here” said Gertrude Pswarayi of CCCD.

These organisations have weathered the storm of the long economic crisis, the “dollarisation” of the local currency as a result of the high inflation that have led to most organisations having ‘zero account balances’, the political polarisation of activities and the insecurity around freedom of speech. These organisations are still surviving, passionate about their work and hopeful of a brighter future amidst the political uncertainties. As aptly stated by Luta Shaba of the Women’s Trust,

“We will continue to work on and pursue issues around women political participation and the legitimisation of women in political spaces because in these political spaces critical issues around development and women are made. It is a hostile environment but we will not relent in our efforts”.

Most of these organisations work on issues such as women’s access to land, inheritance rights, political participation of women, access to justice, HIV&AIDS and sexual reproductive rights of women. As an African woman l am proud to be part of these organisations in their struggles and rage to empower women economically. I feel inspired by their fortitude and l want to encourage and support them as l look forward to replicating the lessons learned from Zimbabwe for the benefit of other countries.

By: Nafi Chinery

Capacity Building Officer, AWDF

I walked out of the airport confidently, ignoring all the traders who were trying to sell me sim cards, mobile phones or whatever else they had for sale. Then I stopped, slightly confused. Where’s the taxi stand? I wondered. I could see no taxis whatsoever. In Accra (where I had journeyed from) there were numerous taxi services at the airport. Official airport taxis, unofficial airport taxis and taxi drivers cruising by, hoping to pick up a passenger who has just arrived from Abrokyire (a trip abroad). Even before you fully emerge from Kotoka International Airport, men (and they are always men) in officious white shirts, and navy blue trousers will confront you with, “Taxi, taxi, airport taxi” but no such thing had happened here.

 

I paused and turned to one of the young men who had been trying to sell me a sim card “Je cherche le taxi”. “Qui, qui…” he responded, “Taxi ici” and tried to grab hold of my hand luggage whilst I simultaneously tried to maintain hold of my hand luggage. We walked to the main road. “This way, this way” is what I imagined he said, but there was no taxi this way. By now he had been joined by another compadre and they both resorted to hailing down passing taxis whilst simultaneously encouraging me to cross the street. Eventually a battered green taxi stopped in the middle of the road. “Tu connais l’hotel Laico?” (I can’t conjugate vous properly) “Qui” he responded, and so off we went…where to, I had no idea. In the taxi I texted my Mum, “I’ve arrived safely in Ougadougou. I’m en route to the hotel”. It did cross my mind that perhaps I should leave the safe arrival message until I had actually arrived at the hotel but hey ho, I was hoping for a safe arrival.

 

My predominant memories of Burkina will be women on mopeds, dry, dusty conditions and an amazing FESPACO experience. I’m still not used to seeing women on mopeds. Its not a sight that you ever come across in southern Ghana but in Burkina you see elderly women chugging along on mopeds, young women in little black dresses and heels on mopeds and women with their children on mopeds. “How empowering”, I thought. In a conversation with Deborah Ahenkorah (Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Golden Baobab Prize) she made a similar statement, “Women in Burkina appear so powerful. I get the impression that you shouldn’t mess with them…” Are we mistaken? Probably. Or probably not…

 

I had come to FESPACO (Pan African Film and Television Festival of Ougadougou) with three main goals:

 

• To participate fully in the festival and learn as much as possible about the current state of African film on the continent
• To speak on a panel with Amina Mama and Yaba Badoe at a CORDESIA workshop and
• To promote the work that AWDF has done in its popular culture project

 

Apart from a few logistical hitches, (printed programme booklets of the film schedule being a rare commodity, being sent all around the houses before arriving at the right place to purchase my festival and some technical hitches at one cinema) FESPACO was an amazing experience. I am already planning to attend the 23^rd FESPACO that will take place in 2013.

 

Films, Films, Films

Of course FESPACO was all about watching films. On Day 1 of the film festival I got together with Deborah and Kojo (friends from Ghana who were also attending FESPACO) and we eagerly went through the film schedule and highlighted those films we wanted to watch. Our film watching crew soon included Tsakani (whom Kojo and Debbie befriended over breakfast) from South Africa’s Arts and Culture department[1] and together we decided to challenge ourselves to watch as many films as possible! The film schedule didn’t contain a synopsis of the films so we chose films that we thought sounded exciting, and in my case I advocated for films with women directors (there were so few of those though). There were some days we watched as many as 5 films back to back.

 

Personally, my favourite films at the festival were:

 

• A Small Town Called Descent (South Africa)
• Dnoma (Haiti)
• Notre étrangère (Senegal)
• The last flight of the flamingo (Mozambique)
• Bullets over Brownsville (USA)
• Dusable to Obama : Chicago’s Black Metropolis (USA)
• The Figurine (Araromire) (Nigeria)

 

I liked these films for a variety of reasons and will review my ‘top 3’ below:

 

My Top 3 Films at FESPACO: A Nutshell Review and Synopsis

 

A Small Town Called Descent – this film reminded me of the best bits of a Hollywood blockbuster. It had compelling action scenes, good cops versus bad cops, a strong storyline and a romance doomed to failure. The film dealt with the hard-hitting issue of xenophobia, which centered on the murder of a Zimbabwean immigrant in the town ‘Descent’. The commander of the local police station is directly implicated in the murder and so is practically everyone else in the town (either through their action, inaction and unwillingness to speak up about the issue). We get the impression that the real puppet masters may not be the police commander or even the mob that lynched the Zimbabwean but the big businesses looking to buy up tracts of land in Descent. And of course there is the Afrikaner farmer who is the largest landholder in Descent, and was a high ranking military officer prior to the end of apartheid. We’re never quite sure how he is involved in the xenophobic attacks but we’re left with the feeling that he too is complicit

 

Dnoma – a complex, multi-layered film, which skillfully intertwined issues of race, class, immigration and sexuality. This film was located in France and combined several stories in one piece. There was the femme fatale teacher who gave her pupil a blowjob[2]. The woman who had been adopted as a child and decided to experiment with the concept of love and relationships by picking up a stranger at the train station and taking him home to make love/have sex. The young girl whose parents had moved to Spain, leaving her responsible for the care of her older sister who was dying from leukemia. The pupil (same one who had received a blowjob from his teacher) who was also a pickpocket, and was dating the girl who had caring responsibilities for her sister. The immigrant who worked long hours and sometimes came to school wearing his clothes from his job that later developed a crush on the girl who had caring responsibilities for her sister. Separate stories, yet all inter-connected and fascinating in its complexity and depth

 

Notre étrangère – A beautifully shot film, which spans Burkina Faso and France. The dominant themes deal with adoption, motherhood and the feeling of being a stranger or being caught in-between two worlds. A young girl leaves France in search of her biological mother in Burkina Faso but only finds her alcoholic Aunt who is overjoyed to see her and treats her like the prodigal daughter. The alcoholic Aunt is lonely; she has no children and despite numerous efforts has been unable to bear her own children. This is especially hard in a country, which valorizes motherhood and scorns the barren woman.

 

Whilst the young girl searches in vain for her mother, her mother is working as a cleaner in France. Although she had agreed for her daughter’s French father to take the young girl to France she never recovers from the loss of her daughter and disappears soon after the child leaves for France. The audience is aware that the mother is in France and the Aunt heard a rumour that the mother is in France but no one knows for a fact where the mother is located. The film ends without mother and daughter finding each other.

 

So how does all this relate to what I do at AWDF?

In 2008, AWDF formally launched a popular culture project at the Sixth African Development Forum held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 18^th-21^st November 2008. The launch of the popular culture project was in recognition of the need for women’s rights organisations to adopt strategies that can target a mass base of the population if perceptions, behaviours and attitudes are to be influenced.

 

In 2010, AWDF convened the first African Women in Film Forum in conjunction with the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts led by acclaimed Nollywood actress Joke Silva on the theme, “Nollywood: Women and the Dynamics of Representation”. This forum attracted a wide and diverse cross section of Nollywood’s key players including Directors, Actresses, Scriptwriters and virtually every profession connected in some way to the film profession.

 

In 2011, AWDF as part of its 3^rd strategic plan has decided to add a new thematic area to its work, “Arts, Culture and Sports”. This presents a new opportunity for AWDF to extend its support for the Arts and to consider innovative ways of achieving gender equality.

 

It is very clear to me that the visual medium is a powerful tool and one that women’s rights activists haven’t engaged with sufficiently.

 

There was a powerful documentary screened at the 22nd FESPACO, “The Witches of Gambaga”. Women’s rights organizations at the public screening in Ghana on the 15^th of February 2011 described the film as “a gift to the women’s movement”. A gift because the film depicts powerfully (in a way no report can) the abuse that women who have been accused of witchcraft face and shows the complex interplay of gender, tradition and power which leave women vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft. Not enough of such films exist, or if they do exist are not widely disseminated.

 

We need more documentaries that tell women’s stories. We need action films that have women heroines (and not just as the pretty sidekick). We need films that show women in all their beautiful diversities – working women, rich women, lesbians, activists, happy singletons, women living positively, differently abled women…We need women producers, directors, scriptwriters, actresses, distributors…

 

See you at the 23^rd FESPACO in 2013.

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Communications Officer

AWDF

Congratulations to Angela Dwamena-Aboagye of the Ark Foundation in Ghana for receiving a Millenium Excellence Award 2010 in the category of ‘Women’s Empowerment’. In 2005, the African Women’s Development Fund also recognised the Executive Director of the Ark Foundation with a Woman of Substance award. Congratulations Angela and all the team at the Ark

Congratulations to Gifty Anti, Hostess of GTV’s ‘The Standpoint’. Gifty is receiving an award this evening at the ‘Creative Industry Women Honors’, an event being organised by the Musicians’ Union of Ghana. Gifty is one of Ghana’s most recognised broadcasters and very well known for her passion for women’s rights. Her programme, ‘The Standpoint’ is arguably one of the most feminist programmes on terrestrial television in Ghana and she has covered a range of thought provoking issues including ‘Celebrating Single Women’, ‘Who is a Feminist?’ and ‘Women and Financial Independence’.

In November 2010, Gifty was one of the resource persons for AWDF’s Convening on Women in the Arts alongside acclaimed South African songstress Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Nollywood actress Joke Silva and Kaine Agary winner of the 2008 Nigeria Prize for Literature.

Congratulations Gifty, Ayeekoo!!!

I missed the first couple of minutes of ‘The Witches of Gambaga’ documentary when it was premiered in Dakar, Senegal during the 3^rd African Feminist Forum, yet in minutes I was gripped… the documentary took me back to Gambaga which I had visited in January 2010 during an AWDF monitoring and evaluation visit of grantees in the Northern Region of Ghana. I recalled our male guide saying to us “the women are witches you know, they confessed…” and my colleague Nafi and I arguing the point with him. We were left with an overwhelming sense of sadness when we left the camp. “Why isn’t the government doing anything about this?” we asked, “why are women in this day and age still being accused of being witches”?

In watching the documentary I couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope. “Finally, here is a medium which will tell the stories of the women at the Gambaga camp. Finally here is a documentary that can capture the interest of the International Community. Finally the government of Ghana will be forced to act”.

Even as I remain hopeful I cannot help but wonder how much of a difference the documentary will make in a context of superstitions, belief in witchcraft[1] and the rise of new churches that pride themselves on casting out demons and principalities. Accusations of witchcraft are not limited to poor, elderly women living in far-flung corners of Ghana. In November 2010, the Ghanaian public was horrified to see front-page pictures of an elderly woman in Tema who had been burnt to death for being a witch. One of the people accused of being complicit in her death is an evangelical preacher; I cannot help but wonder how many other women have died in the face of such accusations.

At 10am on Tuesday, 15^th February 2011, ‘The Witches of Gambaga’ will be screened at the British Council in Accra. In attendance will be the Director Yaba Badoe and Co-Producer Amina Mama.

See below for a synopsis, You Tube link and reviews of ‘The Witches of Gambaga’.

Synposis – The Witches of Gambaga

The Witches of Gambaga is a haunting 55 minute documentary film about a community of women condemned to live as witches in Northern Ghana. Made over the course of 5 years, this disturbing expose is the product of a collaboration between members of the 100 strong community of ‘witches’, local women’s movement activists and feminist researchers, united by their interest in ending abusive practices and improving women’s lives in Africa. Painful experience and insight combine to generate a uniquely intimate record of the lives of women ostracized from their communities. Told largely by the women themselves, their incredible stories and struggles are rendered comprehensible to a wide range of audiences by the director’s narration. Completed in July 2010, Fadoa Films Ghana and UK, Directed by Yaba Badoe, Co-produced by Yaba Badoe and Amina Mama.

Winner, 2010 Black International Film Festival Best Documentary Award

REVIEWS of ‘The Witches of Gambaga’

“An excellent exploration of how women are victimized …a valuable resource for understanding how to end this problem.” Cornelius Moore, California Newsreel
“An admirably unsensational but powerfully affecting reminder of the terrible influence still wrought by superstition on the lives of so many women.” Geoff Andrew, film critic, British Film Institute
“A brave and brilliant production” Hope for the African Village Child Trust
“…will go a long way to promote the rights of women…” African Women’s Development Fund
“A shocking, extraordinary film…” Michael Eaton, screenwriter
“… the unacceptable and abusive treatment of women as witches is
exposed…” ABANTU FOR DEVELOPMENT
Below is a link to the trailer of the film of You T

ube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFhHX7CJSes

Yaba Badoe is a Ghanaian-British documentary filmmaker and writer. A graduate of King’s College Cambridge, she worked as a civil servant in Ghana before becoming a General Trainee with the BBC. She has taught in Spain and Jamaica and has worked as a producer and director making documentaries for the main terrestrial channels in Britain. Her short stories have been published in Critical Quarterly and in African Love Stories: an anthology edited by Ama Ata Aidoo.In 2009, her first novel, True Murder was published by Jonathan Cape. Her TV credits include: Black and White, a ground-breaking investigation into race and racism in Bristol, using hidden video cameras for BBC1; I Want Your Sex, for Channel 4 and a six-part series, VSO, for ITV. African Love Stories is now available in Swedish from Tranan publishers under the title Kärlek x 21.

Amina Mama is a Nigerian feminist activist, researcher and scholar, who has lived and worked in Nigeria, South Africa, Britain, the Netherlands and the USA. She spent 10 years establishing the University of Cape Town’s African Gender Institute and is founding editor of the African journal of gender studies, Feminist Africa. She authored Beyond the Masks: Race, Gender and Subjectivity (Routledge 1995), Women’s Studies and Studies of Women in Africa (CODESRIA, 1996), and co-edited Engendering African Social Sciences (CODESRIA 1997). She is currently developing a transnational activist research initiative on gender and militarism and pursuing her interest in documentary film. ‘The Witches of Gambaga’ is her first film.
She currently lives in Berkeley and works at University of California, Davis as Professor and Director of Women and Gender Studies.

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[1] Men are rarely accused of being wizards

At the last Association of Women in Development Forum (AWID), I was one of a group of feminists that participated in a ‘Feminist Tech Exchange’, and since then I have been even more excited about the opportunity that technology holds for women’s empowerment – women can publish and share their own stories via the vast expanse of social media technologies that exist today, a woman at risk of violence can send an SMS asking for help, women’s rights organisation use Facebook, Twitter and You Tube (just to name a few) to spread their messages of women’s empowerment. Clearly technology is powerful and even more important in today’s world.

Yet so many women especially on the African continent do not have access to technology, even when women have access to technology, the poorly developed communications infrastructure (extremely slow internet and high communication charges for e.g.) means that women are not able to keep up with the rapid rate of technology. Unfortunately, technology has also become another tool for violence…many of the new technologies that aid in message dissemination are also being used for cyber stalking and cyber bullying. This is where ‘Take Back the Tech’ comes in. ‘Take Back the Tech’ advocated taking back control of technology to end violence against women. So I say, tell your stories, document, disseminate and take back control of technology.

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Communications Officer