The Power Of Stories – Umbrella For The African Child (UTAC)

THE POWER OF STORIES

Stories impact how we view ourselves and how we view others and the world at large. Our world today is guided by the stories craft out by people in authority or influencers. In this brief article we will be talking about African Children in Rural Africa. We realize most of the time children in Rural Africa always get a bad representation in the media, the stories are always the same: starving children, Poor health care , drugs , children dropping out of school etc in as much as we know there are enormous challenges affecting children in rural communities, these are the only stories being told to millions of people all over the world about these children. As a Non Governmental Organization that works with children in rural areas in Ghana and Nigeria we have also gotten lost in this circle of portraying children in this light. During our various visits to MAKOKO Community (NIGERIA) also known as the Venice of Africa, we saw the other side of children in this zone and this is what we don’t normally get to see in the media space.

Makoko has a diverse and colorful history and was established when fishermen from nearby Togo and the Republic of Benin settled there about a century ago.

Makoko is highly multicultural; conversations on the floating slum are usually in a language which is a peculiar medley of Yoruba, French, and Egun, a local dialect.

At UTAC we believe stories have the power to release others from their own silence.

It has now become our mission to tell a different story of the African Child in Rural Africa and give them a platform to shine by showing their talents, and true joy to the world through our series of projects.

In a world of information overload, noise and hype, stories can cut through the clutter, get the message across, and influence people which is exactly what our mission is to help shape the minds of people about children in Rural Africa.