Something that’s always drawn me to journalism is the ability to tell someone’s story; a story that might not otherwise be told. It’s important to be able to give people a voice so they can share their lives with others, and sometimes bring awareness to injustices happening around them.
This week we met Anas Aremeyaw Anas when he spoke at the Reimagine GH 2018: Stories, Standards, and Struggle Media Summit. Anas is a Ghanaian investigative journalist with the motto “name, shame, and jail.” He uses anonymity to go undercover in his investigations, which focus on issues of human rights and anti-corruption in Ghana and other areas of Africa. He’s helped produce many documentaries such as “The Spell of the Albino,” “‘CARE’less,” and “Number 12”.
While his latest documentary, “Number 12,” has caused controversy throughout Ghana, I was initially more drawn to “The Spell of the Albino.” We watched a preview of it at the summit, so I decided I wanted to watch it afterwards. It uncovers the ways in which witchcraft in Tanzania has turned deadly. Some who believe in witchcraft claim that the bones of an albino have healing powers and the ability to bring great wealth, specifically the bones of albino children. Because of this, there’s been a rise in violence against them. One of the children in the documentary is a young girl who had her arm hacked off when attackers came at night and assaulted her father, then attacked her. Another is a young boy whose own father allowed the attack that cost him his fingers on one hand. It’s heartbreaking to watch and hard to understand given my background.
This film however, reminded me of something Anas said during the summit. When talking about the ethical dilemmas he faced while making “The Spell of the Albino” and “Spirit Children” he said, “what do we think about spiritual children? Because it brought a lot of ethical issues. People live in a community and when a child is born with a deformity they think, why should we waste that child’s life? You save the child from coming and being disabled. This was their perception. When a child is born with exceptional intelligence, the child is seen as a witch. This is their interpretation. You can’t kill a child, it’s a human rights abuse. Who is the problem? Is it my grandparents, for the belief they have? Who actually is the problem?” He talked more about the internal issues he faced when covering the story, saying, “I ask myself, how many kids have been killed through that? So, using journalism to break the superstitious myth is something that challenges me a lot. You have to go the extra mile; people are telling you it’s a human rights abuse but when you go and live in that society, you realize that the person who is killing the child believes he is also helping society.”
It’s hard to understand the deep-rooted beliefs of a society so unfamiliar to your own. Who gets to decide what is ethical? Killing children because of disability or intelligence is terrible, but I think it’s worth making an effort to understand why this is happening and in what context. They truly believe that what they’re doing is helping society. I think that sometimes Americans have a tendency to act as if we decide what is morally and ethically right and wrong. Context
and understanding the people you’re dealing is so important when investigating controversial topics like this. As Anas also said, “the African story can only be told by the African.”
I found it so interesting listening to Anas’ perspective of not knowing where he fell in regards to these ethical issues because he had been educated and knew that it was wrong, but had grown up with grandparents who believed in these practices. I think the work he does is really great because it not only further develops investigative journalism, but helps to educate and bring awareness to issues real people are facing. I look forward to seeing what he uncovers in the future.
Bill Scarvie
August 10, 2018 — 9:38 pm
I’ve been struggling with this evocative essay since it was posted two weeks ago. We of Western European heritage have practiced cultural dominance since the Age of Empire, when England, Spain, Holland, France, and Belgium colonized the Americas, Africa and South Asia. The English, Dutch, and French colonists imposed their values and practices on the indigenous people of North America. If the colonists had been open to integrating the ways and beliefs of the natives, imagine how different things would be today. Instead they attempted to eliminate all traces of native culture by forcing the children into boarding schools where speaking native languages and performing native spiritual practices were forbidden.
If you look up “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” in Wikipedia, you will find an interesting review of “Western Bias” in the drafting of this internationally recognized and adopted document, which is especially controversial in Muslim countries governed under Sharia Law.
Thanks for the challenging post, Emily.