Menu
“I believe my student's learned so much about how they are part of the world and what it means to be connected to everyone everywhere through their shared humanity.”
Twamsen Danaan is a filmmaker and educator at the Agape Chamber Academy in Jos, Nigeria. As part of The SDG Challenge: Advancing Global Citizenship Education Through The Power of Film in partnership with UNESCO-APCEIU, Twamsen screened Kayayo, From Gangs to Gardens, and What About Our Future.
Through the films, he encouraged students to connect with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Number 1: No Poverty, Number 4: Quality Education, Number 5: Gender Equality, and Number 13: Climate Action.
How did SIMA Academy films resonate with your students?
Kayayo in particular resonated with my student’s as they had empathy for her suffering, identifying to the fact that she was 8 years old, almost as old as they are and knowing that she had to endure her suffering right from the age of 6. The thought of her going back to Accra to face a future that she will definitely not be gaining from made them feel sad and want to take action on sensitizing the rest of the school about the importance of education for all and equality for all.
How would you describe the learning experience for your students?
I believe my students learned so much about how they are part of the world and what it means to be connected to everyone everywhere through their shared humanity. They are mostly intrigued by the idea of using film in class, it is new to them and have expressed how much they will love to have film as a learning aid.
Please tell us what you learned in the process of implementing this lesson with your classroom?
I’m particularly impressed about how much the kids were interested in the story of Bamunu in Kayayo, how they could relate her situation to the ones that they witnessed in their community in the child hawkers and almajiri. My biggest challenge was having to fit the lesson into their school schedule considering how much the pandemic has had on the school calendar in Nigeria. It has caused the schools to rush the calendar in order to cover up for the time lost during the lockdown.
