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"I am glad to have gained access to SIMA Academy’s broad-based lessons on diverse topical issues affecting the human race. It has totally tuned my perspective to which my students approach various problems and better position them to help solve them in their own small way."
Joseph Archibald Whadji is an elementary school teacher at New Valley School in Ghana and the President of World Merit Ghana, Joseph screened the SIMA Academy title KAYAYO for 300 students as part of the SIMA Academy Impact Challenge. The film—about family enforced child labor and exploitation in Kenya—is set in a marketplace in Accra just a few miles from Joseph’s students’ own school. After the film they discussed the crucial consequences of poverty in their community while reflecting on the meaning and potential of their own access to education.
Why did you choose the SIMA Academy film, “Kayayo, The Living Shopping Baskets”?
Joseph: The story is a familiar concern among the Ghanaian populace especially among children from the Northern Region of the country. Therefore it was decided to shed some light on the issue to get students of New Valley School to appreciate the fact that they are privileged to have families that provide their basic needs and also access to Education. We wanted to shed some light on the real hardships faced by kayayos as they often can become exposed to many social vices and are prone to rape from their male counterparts. The practice of using kayayos will only be phased out if we can change the attitude of everyone, including children who may not have understood how terrible the reality is for those children.
How did the screening meet your objectives for the overall event?
Joseph: There were a lot of interesting reactions to the screening. The event offered the children the opportunity to discuss and build a better understanding of SDG1 by relating it to the job of a kayayo and the ways in which some families need to survive. Another objective we had was to see if the children felt that the film was an accurate representation of Ghana, as often it is felt that our country can be misrepresented in general media. The children and the panelists felt that, yes, the filmmakers have done Ghana justice in their depiction of our country and, as such, gave the overall message more credibility as the issue had not been sensationalized.
What were the main topics of discussion at the event?
Joseph: As the event was held in the New Valley School, our panel guests were Mr.Jonathan Daitey ,Head of the Printing Department at Tema Technical Institute who is a prominent figure at the school. There were a lot of interesting reactions to the screening and even though the children were relatively young, they proved to have a keen understanding of the context of kayayos and a level of compassion that was felt by the panelists. The main topic of conversation from the children was how Ghana can make education a norm for all children, not just the privileged children.
Please share a memorable moment during your event.
Joseph: Some of the kids got tears in their eyes at a point in the documentary when Bamunu’s parents told her to return to Accra to continue her work as a head porter. They realized how fortunate they are to have themselves in school and that could possibly ginger them to strive hard to achieve greatness.
I’ve been challenged after this whole experience to further my action on the problems faced by people in my community. I have also resolved to put efforts together to make my own documentary to follow up on the well-being of marginalized people and areas of the country.
