Stories

The Doryumu Diaries

Stories are an important window of empathy into other’s experiences. The stories of African peoples, however, have and continue to be erased and conglomerated into a single experience. An important part of decolonization is a return of autonomy to African people, and allowing them to share their experiences in their own way is integral to this. In Summer 2020, we launched our Doryumu Diaries campaign, where we gave eight residents the opportunity to share their stories — stories of hope and resilience, in a COVID-19 context.

Elhassan's Story

Elhassan, a middle-aged, married male, shares how he and his family were affected by the COVID-19 lockdown in Ghana. Among many personal issues, they faced a shortage of food supply and no external aid from organizations. However, they persevered and stayed safe by following government initiatives and personal hygiene practices.

Florence's Story

Florence, a 44-year-old single mother expresses that when the pandemic hit, she was overcome with fear and worry about how she would keep her business progressing. While she owns a provision shop where she sells items that people need daily, her other interests lie in cooking and catering.

Esther's Story

Esther is deeply appreciative of how calm Doryumu is; her desire is for the government to pave more ways for women to be financially stable and independent. Due to a lack of jobs, when women come across men who can provide, they often feel the need to reciprocate this provision with their bodies. Esther believes that more job opportunities will reduce instances like this, such that women can start to feel more confident and empowered in their own abilities to provide for their families.

Henry's Story

Henry shares that he graduated from school in 2015 and has been unemployed since then. He relies on his grandmother for provision. He appreciated participating in the hands-on liquid soap training and mask distribution organized by YSYF. Henry is ready to secure a job that will help him provide for himself; although he’s open to relatively any job position, his interest lies mainly in cooking. Henry’s story is indeed one of strength, for he has been unemployed for over five years and still is able to share his story with a warm smile, and courage is deeply inspiring.

Tetteh's Story

Tetteh, an energetic and vibrant 82 year old man shares his family’s living experiences during the lockdown period. Tetteh is married with seven children, so he explains that providing for his household has been difficult during the pandemic because of feeding challenges. Being retired, he relies on his pensions fees to send his children to school and he continues to support his family by following the government’s guidelines to keep safe during these times. As Tetteh tells his story, his fatherly love for his community is undeniable and he ends his experience on a positive note by saying “the pandemic was here already, all we could do was adjust.”

Claudia's Story

Claudia identifies that in Doryumu, the government helps its residents sometimes, but not often. Despite this, she is appreciative of the peaceful nature of Doryumu. She is hopeful about the future of the community and having faced challenges with raising her son Nii at the age of 24, she hopes that in the future there will be better job opportunities to support other young parents.