Slaves of the lake

'Slaves of the Lake' is a documentary about Emmanuel and Dominic, two young boys, aged around 10 and 13, whose families sold them as slaves into the fishing industry in Ghana. This film is a haunting journey through the boys' past and their memory of that past. The landscape of the film is the eerie but beautiful Lake Volta with its muddy banks and murky waters, as well as the colourful coastal town of Winneba.

In the film, we discover how Emmanuel and Dominic were taken from their home town of Winneba, in the southern part of the country, to remote fishing villages in the northern part of Lake Volta, several hundred kilometres away. Emmanuel was sold by his mother for £16 when he was seven. Dominic was sold by his grandparents when he was just two years old, for an equally small amount.

The boys spent several years in enslavement, either living in the open or in the tiny mud huts they shared with other slave children. They were often deprived of food and sleep, made to work in harsh conditions and violently beaten by the master and his family. In this film, Emmanuel and Dominic talk about their daily routine in slavery and how they passed their time when they were not fishing or diving in the lake.

Both the boys have tragic memories of seeing several of their friends die as a result of the master's beatings or because of diving in the lake. In the film Dominic talks about how he often feared for his life because the work he did was dangerous and life threatening.

Emmanuel and Dominic were rescued by a charity called Challenging Heights and brought back to their families with an understanding that they would not be sold again. In the film, the boys talk about being enrolled in school and enjoying a life of normalcy, where they play football with their friends, have lessons in school and dream about their future. Unfortunately, Emmanuel's recovery has been much slower than Dominic's. His behaviour is often erratic and he has trouble adjusting to his life back in the village. In the film, Emmanuel explains why he resents living with his aunt and what he experiences at home.

'Slaves of the Lake' is the story of two children who lost their childhood and are now determined to get it back.

Note: This thought provoking video is taken from here. The video might be available for viewing only in certain locations.

Poverty as entertainment?

This post is a direct response to Rasna Warah's post in Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper of 20 March 2011. I came across it here where it was reposted.

I watched Famous, Rich and in the Slums (here on YouTube) when it was aired in Britain by the BBC recently and my consternation at the issues featured was directed neither at the makers of the documentary, nor at those who participated in it. My anger, instead, was directed at the authorities in Kenya, who seem to be clueless as to their responsibility towards the country's citizens and in particular, the inhabitants of Kibera, a slum area in the country's capital city. Lest I incur the angst of my readers, I make haste at this point to clarify that this is not intended as an onslaught on the aptitude of the Kenyan government singly, since such failure is characteristic of the majority of the governments of Africa.

The author in the Daily Nation opined:

"There are dozens, if not hundreds, of charities operating in Kibera and other slums like it, with few significant results to show for their efforts. 

There may be slightly more sanitation facilities in the slums now, but the living conditions have become only slightly less appalling - they have not improved dramatically. And the slum continues to grow."

And I ask, in all of this where are the Kenyan authorities? What function does the municipal authority in Nairobi perform when a sizeable segment of the city's population are forced to live in such squalid conditions? The author in the Daily Nation was critical of the NGOs that operate in the slum and seemed unhappy about what was referred to as "slum tourism", but I beg to differ.

It's puzzling that we do nothing about a problem and then think that we are justified in criticising the foreigners who make an effort to tackle our problem, one which we have previously ignored. Why do we become angered when westerners point at our festering sores that we have pretended did not exist? Most annoying for me is the fact that Raila Odinga, Kenya's Prime Minister, holds the parliamentary seat for Langata Constituency, which covers much of the Kibera slum.

My take on this is that it was never the intention of the makers of and participants in this documentary, (participants who in any event, include a considerable number of Kibera residents themselves), merely to provide entertainment for the film's viewers. What the film did for me was to vividly highlight the failure by another of Africa's governments to take an interest in, and responsibility for the welfare of those whom they govern. The situation is the same in much of Africa and I have written about the same thing in relation to Nigeria previously on this blog.

Female mechanics..

I find this very heartening. Its always interesting to see a challenge to what we consider to be the norm..