Category: Blog

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.

---

[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

21^st September 2010, at my desk, Oak Plaza Hotel, Accra, Ghana

My day began at 4am when the Akina Mama onsite coordinator called my room to let me know that I have to be ready for my TV interview and that Sister Darkoa was going to chauffeur myself and Solome to GTV (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation) at 5:00am for the Breakfast show. Now, this was something I had been fretting about since my arrival at the hotel the day before, so as could be imagined I continued my drama – I was imagining being asked a question and being tongue-tied aka muumuu. The worst my imagination conjured up was that I would probably run off the set. Funnily enough as all these images run through my mind I was physically extremely calm (ask Sister Darkoa).

At GTV, I had to come to terms with the ridiculous amount of make up the “make up artist” had to put on my face. At the end of the pancake smear on my face, it was time for the interview, which lasted about 3 minutes, and to my surprise I was calm, collected and I was able to answer all the questions. Though the first question caught me of guard, by the end I was thinking…is that all? It’s that simple!

After breakfast, it was time to meet the participants who were from different countries in the sub-region. Different accents and different personalities from West Africa all in the same room. Here, again I was surprised at my self; I found myself starting conversations with other participants and actually sustaining a conversation, walking up to participants to have conversations, smiling and waving; I think I did quite well. Isn’t it funny when ever you mention the name of your organisation everyone asks if they could come for a grant? Anyways I answered yes and they could drop a proposal and so far I have two proposals for the AWDF!!

The opening ceremony; had a keynote speaker in the name of Angela Dwamena-Aboagye who spoke eloquently on the topic ‘Women’s leadership in Africa: The magic bullet?’ What struck me about her speech was that the “personal is political”- the private person cannot be disassociated from the public person, these two personalities make up the same person and that the mark of a true leader is character.

The greatest part of my day was receiving a call from my grandmother who was screaming on the other end of the call because she had seen me on TV and had called an assembly of her tenants to watch me on TV.

And that was my first day at the AWLI!!!

By: Thelma Owusu-Boakye

Programme Assistant

African Women’s Development Fund

P.S: The AWLI is an innovative leadership programme for young African women run by AWDF grantee, Akina Mama wa Afrika

A two-member team from AWDF and a documentary crew were in Liberia from the 3^rd of August to the 7^th of August to document the work and impact of AWDF in Liberia. In all the activities of 7 organisations and the testimonies of three women leaders in Liberia were recorded. The three women leaders included her Excellency President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Hon Varbah Gayflor, Minister of Gender and Development, Liberia and Hon Olubanke King-Akerele, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Liberia. Beneficiaries of the various projects also testified about the impact of AWDF’s grant-making, technical assistance and capacity building.

Some Outcomes

All grantees and personalities interviewed spoke about the uniqueness and the relevance of the work of AWDF. The results of AWDF’s funding and capacity building activities were evident in all the organizations visited.

– AWDF supported the active participation of women in the peace negotiations of the various warring factions and stakeholders during the conflict in Liberia

– AWDF have supported the building of women’s leadership skills for effective involvement in the reconstruction efforts in Liberia

– Young women have been trained and are being mentored to take up leadership positions in Liberia. These young women are also equipped to help build and maintain peace in their communities. One of the young leaders who graduated from WIPSEN’s young women’s leadership programme is presently the first deputy speaker of the Liberia Children’s Parliament

– AWDF has strengthened the organisational capacity of some women’s initiatives to provide critical services to the populace especially women living in deprived areas outside the capital, Monrovia. Services rendered include vocational training in hairdressing, dressmaking, catering and computer skills. Some beneficiaries also received micro finance and are presently running vibrant businesses that are catering for their needs and the needs of their families. These interventions have brought hope and joy to families especially children who can now benefit from proper growth and education. Many of these young women who benefit from these interventions are teenage mothers with no education or skills, many would have joined the teeming population of idle young people with no idea of what they can do with their lives.

– Through the support of AWDF, some market structures have been renovated and are presently in use. Women now have the congenial atmosphere to do their business and no longer have to bear the consequences of the vagaries of the weather. Consequently children who accompany their mothers to the marketplace have a healthier environment in which to play and grow

– Organisations such as the Angie Brooks centre has also trained a core group of women and men who are solidifying peace in their communities by promoting peace and subduing early warning signs of conflict within their communities. With readily available peace educators, mediators and negotiators, communities are learning to resolve conflict amicably and readily.

Outcome of Training in Resource Mobilisation Course

– As a result of the GIMPA Resource Mobilisation course that a staff member of WONGOSOL attended, it was agreed at their last board meeting that the board should hold a special retreat to deliberate on the important recommendations that the staff member made after attending the course. The board therefore set up a committee that was tasked with ensuring that the retreat takes place and makes the most out of the opportunities presented. The board has agreed to review and revisit their resource mobilization strategies as well as their systems and structures. It is expected that the retreat will take place in the month of September 2010. WONGOSOL is a network of NGOs in Liberia.

– For the New Liberian Women Organisation/Skills Training Centre, the Resource Mobilisation course provided the skills and the knowledge to strategise and to be able to visualize all opportunities for mobilizing resources. For example during the International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development Peace and Security (7^th-8^th March 2010), the New Liberian Women Organisation/Skills Training Centre using some graduates of its training centre made clothes and sold them to conference participants. They also launched an individual giving campaign starting from the streets and the market places of Monrovia and its environs out of which they got some money to purchase land and to commence the construction of an office complex that houses their offices and skills training centre. They have taken their income earning projects seriously and currently bake bread for sale. They have acquired a stall in the business area where they display their bread for sale. Their other income generating projects include tie & dye and sewing. They have also launched a campaign to get women to support initiatives for women. Again, the trainee has been sharing the knowledge and skills acquired with other women’s organisations in the country.

Beatrice Boakye-Yiadom (Grants Manager)

P.S: This post is the introduction to an internal report on AWDF’s M&E visit to Liberia

Today was the finale for the XVIII International Aids Conference and an appropriate time to reflect on all that I have learnt, seen and heard over the past week. This is the second International Aids Conference I have attended; I remember feeling very impressed when I attended the previous International Aids Conference that took place in Mexico. ‘How well organized’ I thought, ‘so many learning opportunities’…

3 new things I learnt at this year’s conference:

Sero-Discordant Couples Exist

As the Chair of one of the panels on sero-discordant couples said, discordant is not really the appropriate word to refer to relationships in which one person is HIV+ and the other is HIV- because many of these relationships (like other types of relationships) are harmonious. For some reason I had never conceptualized relationships in which people would consciously choose to be with a person who happens to be HIV+, maybe a sign of my own prejudice… People in sero-discordant (I don’t know what other term to use) relationships can protect themselves by using barrier methods during sex – the same way any other couple should protect themselves. It was interesting to find out that some people choose to have unprotected sex even thought they know that their partner is HIV+. Reasons given varied including intimacy, love, etc. I was struck by how some people are HIV- despite long-term exposure to the virus. The only reason I was given is that some people appear to have a gene that makes them immune to the virus.

Sex Workers

I went to a panel on sex work because I have been trying to understand why anyone will choose to engage in sex work. I can understand participating in ‘survival’ sex, I can understand that some people get addicted to drugs and engage in sex work in order to feed their habit but I have struggled to understand why anyone would willingly choose to be a sex worker so after sitting through a panel and finding my question unanswered I was the first one to jump up when the floor was opened for questions:

Q: “So why will anyone choose to be a sex worker”

I got a range of responses:

A: “No one asks anyone else why they choose the jobs they do”

A: “You need no capital to start sex work”

A: “As a trans woman its a way of affirming my gender identity. Men find me attractive and are willing to pay to have sex with me”

A: “I like sex”

A: “I got raped as a child”

A: “It’s a way of running my own business – I work when I want to. I am my own boss”

CAPRISA 004

This was the most exciting news of the conference! The first microbicide trial to show a statistically relevant result and had resulted in 54% protection against HIV for those who had taken the vaginal suppository as instructed > 80% of the time. CAPRISA 005 is a Tenofovir (TFV) gel that is ART (Anti-retroviral therapy) based. The TFV gel is inserted 12 hours before sex and 12 hours after sex. CAPRISA 004 now becomes the benchmark for protection/prevention where future trials are concerned.

All in all it was an interesting, useful and educational conference. Roll on AIDS 2012!

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Programme Officer

Fundraising & Communications

A couple of images I took today at the XVIII International Aids Conference in Vienna, of AWDF’s grantee partners.

Nana Sekyiamah

Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)

A young, energetic graduate responds to a call to volunteer her time and skills as an HIV peer educator and it becomes a life saver even though it did not appear so at that time.

Then 27 years old and newly married, Ihe Nkeiru had just completed the University and was ready to undertake her national youth service. During the orientation UNICEF appealed to the “Corpers”, as these service persons are nicknamed, to volunteer to be trained as HIV&AIDS peer educators. Ihe heeded the call and volunteered to be trained as an HIV&AIDS peer educator. After the training, the peer educators were asked to undergo voluntary counseling and testing as a way of knowing their status and to be able to convince people about the importance of knowing one’s status through voluntary counseling and testing.

It was this gesture that saved her health and life however devastating the news was at that time, Ihe tested positive to the HIV virus. She was devastated and did not know what to do or how to handle the situation. Luckily for her the counselor who had counseled her during the voluntary counseling and testing process was Doris Brenda the ardent HIV&AIDS activist and founder of “Heal the Land”, an HIV&AIDS support group.

Doris applied to the National Youth Service Corps and requested for Ihe to serve her time with “Heal the Land” as a peer educator. With counseling and support from Doris and the support group at “Heal the Land”, Ihe was able to learn strategies to live positively. Ihe completed her National Service with “Heal the land” and gained employment with the organization as an accountant, having graduated with a Bsc Accounting from the University.

Ms Ihe Nkeiru was one of 10 “Corpers” who won awards in Akwa Ibom State in 2008 for working assiduously on the prevention of HIV&AIDS and training secondary school students on HIV&AIDS issues. As a national service person she used her service allowance to purchase multi vitamins which she donated to people living with HIV&AIDS accessing health care services at the University of Oyo teaching hospital.

With her husband living outside the country at the time she tested positive Ihe had not disclosed her status to him or to any other person outside ‘Heal the Land”. When her husband visited about a year and a half after she had tested positive she had the task of disclosing her status to him. It was so difficult that she had to call her counselor and mentor Doris to help her with the disclosure. Upon disclosing her status to her husband he appeared to have received the news calmly was initially supportive until she fell ill a month later with TB. That was the beginning of her woes, her husband’s attitude changed towards her and he finally abandoned her at home and never came back. Then the tough issue of disclosing her status to a family member arose. With the support of her counselor again, Ihe broke the news to her brother who was very understanding and supportive. Her brother travelled for miles to see her when she suffered a partial stroke and had nobody with her, he asked the hospital where she was receiving treatment to transfer her to a bigger hospital near his home where she received the best of care. When she got better her brother took her to his home and nursed her till she was well enough to go back to work.

Today Ihe is well and helping to run “Heal the Land”, a support group of about 50 women living with HIV&AIDS, as well as undertaking outreach programmes to very remote villages in the State of Akwa Ibom of Nigeia where she provides much needed information on HIV&AIDS as well as caring for those living with HIV&AIDS.

Ihe is determined and passionate about touching and saving lives. She believes that women should equip themselves to face life. In her mind’s eye, young women especially need to equip themselves to face the future especially with all the advancement and turbulence being encountered in the world now.

AWDF supports “Heal the Land” to provide skills training to women living with HIV&AIDS as well as deepen awareness around HIV&AIDS issues. With the support of AWDF, “Heal the Land” has trained treatment literacy/adherence counselors, two of whom are permanently stationed at the St. Luke’s hospital and formed an HIV&AIDS club at one of the project Communities, Mbo in the Oron local government Area of the State of Akwa Ibom to provide continuous HIV awareness in the community.

By: Beatrice Boakye Yiadom

Grants Manager, AWDF

When a friend suggested to Blessing Dickson, 17 years then that she accompanies her to an educational session at the offices of Girls Power Initiative (GPI) she was very reluctant. Not only was the meeting place a bus ride away, which she could not afford but also she really did not understand the essence of an after school educational session.

But the persistence of her friend and the encouragement of her brother led to her first attendance at the Girls’ Power Initiative educational session for young women after almost a year of persuasion, and since then she has never looked back. Blessing who is presently in the second year of the GPI programme is now a strong advocate of the Girls’ Power Initiative young women’s programme and has been convincing other friends to join the programme.

The GPI young women’s programme seeks to equip girls aged from 10 to 18 with human rights, and comprehensive sexuality education. The GPI young women’s programme is structured in such a way that everybody feels comfortable and safe. The entry level, level 1 is divided into 4 different groups based on age. The first group “shining stars” is for ages 10 and 11; second group “precious group” is for those 12 and 13 years old. The third group named “Silver” is for girls 14 and 15 years while the fourth group is for the older entrees aged 16 years and named “Pearls”.

To maintain the comfort of girls and young women within similar age groups the second level of the programme is divided into the older and younger girls. The younger girls are grouped together in the “Alpha” class while the older girls get into the “Bosoms” class. At the final level, which is level girl there is the “Damsels” who are younger and the “Seeders” who are the older group. The different classifications within the same level is to ensure that people feel free and are able to connect to and with people within their age group. The classification also ensures privacy and confidentiality. It takes 3 years to graduate from the GPI and an examination is taken at the end of each year before one is promoted to the next class. After the 3 years the graduate joins the GPI Alumni Association (GAA).

A wide range of topics are covered weekly including issues around women’s sexual health and rights; skills building activities including income generation skills, building of self esteem, imbibing a sense of responsibility and ability to think critically about issues. The girls are also taught to be firm in their convictions and to be able to withstand all the pressures of being a teenager.

GPI provides transportation to and from from the venue of the programme,, this ensures that the unavailability of a bus fare does not hinder any of the girls from attending the weekly classes/meetings.

Blessing who is now 19 years says, “Before joining GPI I could not stick to decisions, I was always wavering in my decisions and resolves but GPI taught me to stick to my decisions and to have a sense of responsibilities”. According to Blessing, the GPI lessons has helped her to shun all sexual activities as well as other negative social behaviours that teenagers usually indulge in. She has also learnt to respect the diversity of culture and tradition as well as to make responsible choices. She now can speak firmly but politely, is very assertive and has a high sense of self esteem.

Blessing is presently working as a fashion designer whilst saving money to continue her education. One of the key lessons Blessing has taken away from her training at GPI is the ability to readily apologise when she is in the wrong. This has brought about a lot of peace and tranquility within her relationships at home and amongst her friends.

She finds a lot of peace and comfort in the GPI family for she is able to confide in her facilitators especially in relation to issues around her sexual health, something she is unable to do with her mother. “The facilitators are friendly, they are like mothers to me. They listen to me, when I have problems even at home I tell them and they counsel me and support me and this makes me strong”.

GPI has helped Blessing to unearth her creative talents in poetry and song writing. She has presently written 4 songs that the GPI has adopted for the girls. Without the GPI most of these talents would have died within her. Blessing is planning to go to the medical school or to become a medical lab scientist, she plans on enrolling in a tertiary institution in 2011.

The GPI counseling programme is structured to involve parents and to engage with teachers when the need arises. Parents know that GPI is a safe space for their children, they have witnessed the changes that has occurred within their children and the diverse strength that has been displayed by daughters who have benefitted from the GPI programme. Teachers sometimes consult the notes of beneficiaries of GPI during lessons on sexual and reproductive health. Students approach students of the GPI programme for counseling, encouragement and support.

With the ever increasing numbers of girls attending the young women’s programme at the GPI there is the need to have a bigger facility that can comfortably accommodate all these girls. For this reason, AWDF is supporting the building of a new complex for the GPI.

By: Beatrice Boake-Yiadom

Grants Manager, AWDF