One Hundred Voices

Up at 6am today to travel to Ada, in the south east of Ghana, and start working on the first of the two projects I am running for the rest of my time here.

One Hundred Voices will record and document the experiences of one hundred people associated with, involved in and affected by Theatre for a Change's work in Ghana. This includes young people, teachers, youth workers, practitioners and lots of others. By the end of the project we'll have produced a short video documentary voiced entirely by the hundred participants, as well as a comprehensive database of their interviews - both in video and text.

As part of the process I'm going to be running some training sessions for TfaC staff on how to use video editing software so that in the future they can use clips from the database to create new videos for specific purposes: funding applications, publicity or documentation. It's great for me because it means I get to meet and interview people in all areas of TfaC's work with a real purpose - and see the effects of the workshops and performances that they run.



The district of Ada is home to one of Theatre for a Change's partner Teacher Training Colleges where, for the last couple of years, trainee teachers have been taking part in InterAct workshops and setting up their own focus groups in local schools. It's a beautiful part of the country - right by the sea; lush and green with dark red soil. And it's home to some charming, friendly rural schools - three of which I visited today to talk to last year's focus group participants.

What surprised me most about the interviews was how comfortable the kids - mostly aged 8 - 14 - were in talking to the camera. Quite a few of them said that InterAct had really benefited them in terms of confidence and they nearly all happily chatted away about the changes that the programme had helped them make: more balanced relationships with the opposite sex, more knowledge about HIV/AIDS, more respect for their families. I asked them what their favourite parts of the workshops were and quite a few sung the songs they'd learnt: Olee-o!; I Came Here to Dance; A-tin-a-tin and more.

Funnily enough the teachers that we interviewed were less comfortable in front of the camera, less succinct, less natural. All, however, spoke powerfully in praise of the project. Some of them no longer had InterAct trainee teachers in their schools and were keen to have them back again.

What was overwhelming, though totally unsurprising, was the welcome that we got from all the schools and people we met, as warm as the sun which beat down on us for most of the time we were walking from school to school. Kids came running out of classes to see the strange Obruni, teachers calling them back, swishing at them with their sticks. At one stage a head-teacher threw me into the class of about 70 kids that she was teaching with the order: "teach them".



At the end of the day, despite a torrential rainstorm and a massive argument between Amanor and a tro-tro driver in the middle of a muddy road, I felt that I'd seen a really different side to TfaC's work. The hazy green countryside, the tiny crowded schools, the massive smiles and cheeky grins, the willingness of people to talk about issues that were sometimes pretty personal - by the end of the day it felt like we'd learnt a lot more than 12 interviews could possibly represent. Hopefully we can capture a little of the atmosphere and the welcome when we finally put One Hundred Voices together.