The pilot edition of Project KCC, a Kenikodjo initiative to introduce Ghanaian children in public school to various forms of creative arts and to encourage them to take an active interest in them, has come to an end in Accra.
It was a four-day workshop in which some students from La Bawaleshie Presby 1 School tried their hands at art, photography, creative writing, cooking, dance and fashion design, from 14th to 17th August 2019, at the Soronko Academy.
The 4th United Nations Sustainable Development Goals #SDG4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Project KCC offers that kind of opportunity to these children.
Maukeni Kodjo, the project lead for Project KCC, emphasized the immense contribution that the creative arts have been known to make in a child’s development.
“Confidence, problem-solving skills, collaboration, responsibility, emotional intelligence, accountability- the creative arts draw out these qualities in a person. I just wanted to create an environment in which Ghanaian children can have boundless fun and also discover their creative abilities. This kind of exposure is meant to birth a whole new generation of creative artists,” he said.
The art class saw the children painting, spraying, drawing and designing on various surfaces- bottles, boxes, calabashes, candle holders and shirts with Bright Ackwerh. Kwame Pocho demonstrated the importance of capturing facial expressions with the help of emojis, in a photography class.
The children did some writing- poems, short stories and songs- in the creative writing class with Crystal Tettey. Fashion design class saw the participants making hair accessories and brooches with Araba Essuman-Johnson.
Dance class with Jamal and Anna-Lisa Shaibu pushed the children to invent a dance or two of their own. Jay Gyebi taught the children the secrets of making pancakes and ‘bofrot.’
The workshop ended with an exhibition – Exhibit KCC- at the Soronko Academy where the children showcased the various things they learnt. Regarding what the future held for Project KCC, Maukeni said, ‘The dream is to hold workshops like this all across the country in collaboration with the right sponsors and partners and to spark up the creativity in these children. It would be fulfilling to see KCC Alumni become celebrated creative artists in the near future.’
