Multi-award-winning photojournalist and team lead at Foto4Change, Geoffrey Buta, has presented camera equipment to the Gbeogo School for the Deaf in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.
The items donated include a camera, speedlight, tripod, and other accessories for the students at the school.
Foto4change is a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
The donation is part of the “Foto4Change Visual Storytelling for the Deaf” (FVSD) project launched in November last year.
The FVSD project will initially benefit 20 pupils (60% girls and 40% boys) of the Gbeogo School for the Deaf and gradually expand to benefit the remaining over 300 pupils.
Presenting the items to the school on Friday, Buta said the gesture formed part of efforts to support and educate students in schools for the deaf across the country.
He stressed the criticality of visual storytelling and the need to support special children.
“At Foto4Change and as a multiple award-winning photojournalist, we believe in the power of visual storytelling. We believe that stories, when told through the lens of a camera, have 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 deaf and hearing-impaired students with the opportunity to become visual storytellers, to show the world their perspective, and to amplify their voices through photography,” Buta stated.
Vitalis Nibenyel, Headteacher of the Gbeogo School for the Deaf, thanked to Foto4Change for extending the FVSD project to his school.
He also encouraged the 20 pupils and their teachers who had been selected to benefit from the visual storytelling training to take every lesson seriously so they could pass on the knowledge and skills acquired to their colleagues.
The Gbeogo School for the Deaf was started in 1996 by a social worker and chief of the Gbeogo community. The school was later absorbed by the state, and currently, it has a population of over 300 pupils and runs from nursery to junior high school. The school also runs a technical and vocational system that caters to children who desire to learn technical and vocational skills after completing JHS.
