Update: Project Polaroid in Ghana

Back in September I posted on Project Polaroid, an effort started by UNC student Carly Brantmeyer to provide children in developing countries with the first pictures of themselves they’ve ever owned. I wanted to post some of the recent Project Polaroid photos from Ghana.

Project Polaroid in Ghana

Earlier this month in Accra, Carly interviewed a family of steet beggers via a translator who had emigrated from Niger to better understand their lives and challenges. Afterward, she shared Project Polaroid with their children. Here’s an excerpt from her post, “Exploring Niger.” I think you’ll agree: for a 20 year old–it’s quite a piece of investigative journalism.

I wanted to know why they came to Ghana, what they experienced in Niger and in Ghana, how they lived, how much they make per day as beggars, their struggles and their joys, the hopes for their children, how they use their money, if they want to return to Niger, and so much more.

 

Before migrating to Ghana, the Niger people lived in the “bush” in Niger, in extremely hot conditions, as the country is located among the Sahara Desert. Niger is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with over 80% of its territory covered from the Sahara desert. In the interview, they said that it sometimes would not rain in Niger for months, even years at a time. Thus, they lived very simple, constricted lives.

 

In the bush, they lived in shacks constructed from logs, leaves, and other scraps. They wore only pieces of leather as clothing, and survived hunting their own animals and by tapping water from trees. They described the bush to be a place of struggle, where it was difficult to make ends meet. As I tried to dig deeper into the hardships they have experienced, the man became short, unwilling to disclose too much detail as he reflecting on their struggles in Niger would flood back sad memories.

 
I interviewed four Niger adults, one of the men speaking for the others the majority of the time. They each came for various reasons, but all mainly because of the government unrest in Niger and because as West Africa is now approaching the dry season, living conditions are growing more unbearable in Niger. As water becomes more scarce in Niger, there are less animals to hunt, thus less food to intake. Subsequently, they migrated in hopes of being able to provide food for their family each day.

 

I asked about their hopes and their desires, about the dreams they have for their children. The man answered simply, by saying (in Hausa), “We are human, too, we have the same hopes and desires for our children that all humans have–I hope that my children are able to one day receive a good education and that they will be able to eventually provide for themselves.”

 

He continued by saying, “I want my oldest son to have a sewing machine, so that he can sell goods to provide a larger income. He currently has no means of making money, besides begging, and he is growing too old to be a [child] street beggar.” I would love to get this child a sewing machine. If I have learned nothing else, I have learned the power of investing in a child, by means of education in school or education in trades. Education, whether formally or in a particular trade enables a child to be self-sufficient, giving him or her the knowledge needed to be successful off of the streets.

 

These people are some of the friendliest, most receptive, loving people that I have ever met. If nothing else, this investigation taught me to take a closer look into someone’s life before judging. I think that lesson is so important, especially with the groups of people that our world and society often deems as the “untouchables”. Like it says in Matthew, Jesus taught us to love the poor, the distressed, and the poverty-stricken.

Here are some of the Project Polaroid pictures of the Nigerien children…