Multi-award-winning photojournalist and team lead at Foto4change Foundation, Geoffrey Buta, has presented camera equipment to the Savelugu School for the Deaf in the Northern region.
The items donated include a camera, speedlite, tripod, and other accessories for the students at the school.
Mr. 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.
“The presentation is to equip the students to express themselves to the world through visual storytelling,” he said, adding, “The students will be coached by some leading photo professionals in the country.”
Mr. Buta noted that the Foto4change Foundation had resolved to turn special young talents into world-renowned professional visual storytellers to champion future visual storytelling by giving them the tools, knowledge, and opportunity to advance their careers and build on their skills.
The multi-award-winning photojournalist hinted at a national contest among the benefiting schools and an exhibition where students from the schools would be awarded.
Nora Naaso, Headmistress of the Savelugu School for the Deaf, lauded Mr. Buta and the Foto4change team, emphasizing that it would help produce the first-ever people with special needs who were visual journalists in the country.
“As we speak, there is no single professional journalist or cameraman in the country we can boast of, despite it being the dream of some of the students,” she said.
Ms. Nasoo underscored that despite their effort to encourage the students to partake in their studies, they had no teacher to take them through.
She, therefore, called for more support in the area of art so that the young ones could have a practical feel of whatever they are taught.
“These young ones can become world-renowned artists like some of those we already have in the country when we start teaching them from this age,” Aisha Yakubu, a student, expressed her joy as she operated the camera for the first time, stating, “This is a dream come true, as I have been yearning to become a visual storyteller.”
