By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Gbeogo (U/E), Oct. 07, GNA – Only a few people with hearing impairment in Ghana and around the world entre into the field of photojournalism and storytelling and the situation is attributed to their form of disability.
However, Mr Geoffrey Buta, a multiple national award-winning photojournalist is on a mission to change the narrative and inspire hearing-impaired students at basic schools to venture into visual story telling.
Through his Foto4Change initiative, the Visual Storyteller has started mentoring and working with hearing impaired students in some schools for the deaf across the country to equip them with the knowledge, skills and interest in visual storytelling using the camera and lens.
He has also identified and donated cameras and accessories to some schools for the deaf, with the vision of inspiring the young ones to develop interest in visual storytelling, a means of changing society positively and fighting inequality, discrimination, and injustice.
At the Gbeogo School for the Deaf where he mentored, inspired, and donated a camera and its accessories to the hearing-impaired students, Mr Buta who is also a Lecturer at the University for Development Studies, said stories told through the camera and lens had the unique ability to transcend barriers of language, geography, and disability.
“Today, we are not just extending a project, but rather igniting a movement, a movement that will see young, hearing-impaired students from Ghana equipped with the tools and skills to tell their own stories, advocate for social justice, and inspire positive change.
“Our vision is simple yet powerful: to provide students with speech or hearing impairment with the opportunity to become visual storytellers, to show the world their perspective, and to amplify their voices through photography,” he stressed.
Mr Buta said historically, the voices of people with disabilities had often been ignored or silenced, however, their perspectives when considered, could transform the world and create a society of inclusiveness and sustainable development.
“For far too long, our society has placed limitations on what people with disabilities can do and Foto4Change is here to challenge those limitations. We are here to say that being hearing-impaired does not mean being invisible.
“Through visual storytelling, these students will have the platform to share their live experiences, their dreams, their challenges, and their triumphs with the world,” he said.
He indicated that through training, mentorship, and support, they would be guided on this journey, and as they learnt the craft of visual storytelling, they would begin to see how their work could highlight inequality, celebrate diversity, and encourage positive change in their communities.
Mr Buta therefore encouraged the students to believe in themselves and use the camera and lens to change society positively.
Receiving the donation, Mr Vitalis Tuolong Niben-Yel, the Head teacher of the Gbeogo School for the Deaf, expressed gratitude to the Foto4Change Initiative, for inspiring the hearing impaired, adding that the project would enhance inclusiveness.
He admitted that though the students were very smart, they are sometimes neglected and with this kind of mentorship, they could make a positive change in society using the camera.
Ms Perpetual Binpuknim, one of the students, expressed happiness about the initiative and indicated that she had interest in visual telling and would take advantage of the project to develop a career path and influence her society positively.
GNA