This time, an Albert’s Corner by Mirjam de Jonge, who recently travelled to PCC for the very first time.
It all started with a question from Jeannette (Klein), a dear friend, who asked if I wanted to join her on her trip to PCC this year. Without knowing exactly what to expect, the decision was quickly made. We were going on a journey together.
We landed in Accra and were immediately hit by a culture shock. I wasn’t prepared for this. An ‘error’ message in my mind and no available frame of reference. The chaos, the plastic in the streets, the smells. Everything! Fortunately, I was able to recover at PCC over the following days. After a few days of settling in, I started walking around with my camera and became ‘the observer, the photographer’. Ideally, I like to move invisibly with my camera to capture situations as authentically as possible, but that soon proved impossible.
The day starts early at PCC. Jeannette and I usually began our day with a cup of coffee or tea outside. It’s the perfect time of day in terms of temperature. We watched the caregivers as they went for their early morning walk with the children at 7:00 am. Another group of children starts the day with sports. Among them is Matthew. The word ‘little climbing monkey’ certainly applies to him. A lightweight, happy, and curious little lad who loves to climb on you. Agility exercises, playing football, crawling under each other, running to the beat of the drum; we saw it all pass by.
The Christmas play was rehearsed twice a week. It featured a Christmas angel whose trousers kept quietly slipping down, a flock of sheep who could bleat very loudly, and Christmas carols sung with a swinging rhythm and accompanying drum beats. There was Nana Yaw, who, as the drummer (using a stick on a tin), announces the birth of Jesus. After one rehearsal, I saw Matthew cautiously pick up the tin and the stick to give it a go himself. His moment of practice didn’t last long, but he certainly enjoyed it for a while.
Sincerity, being who you are, beautiful smiles or quite the opposite, and everything in between. It just is! Those are the words that constantly come to mind when I think of PCC.
Moses, who can be found everywhere; as a guard at the gate, but also washing the motorbikes and watering the plants. Kojo Evans, the weaver, gave me a small bag of money on my last day to buy a car for him. It’s one of his dreams that he tries to make come true at least a few times a year. The bag is now safely back in his bag ;-). There are so many more portraits to be painted of everyone who lives at PCC.
While I was busy taking photographs, I watched Jeannette with great admiration; she has worked so hard. Together with Joe Emma and Emmanuel Boyan, she secured a good rental price for the daycare centre in Forikrom, and she delved into the accounts of the daycare centres, PCC, and the internet café. She consulted with the technical team at PCC regarding the development of a maintenance plan for the coming years. ‘Maintenance’ isn’t necessarily a word found in the Ghanaian dictionary, but what isn’t there yet may still come. Once you know better, you can do better, and things can change.
At the caregivers’ meeting, she explained where the funding for PCC comes from—that all the finances from Europe are private donations (sometimes via other foundations) given because people feel it is important that people with intellectual disabilities are well cared for, and that much is done to raise those funds. It was purely for the sake of awareness. Together with Joe Emma, she also discussed an activity room for the older residents, as well as the financial expectations for next year. And so much more!
In two weeks, I have taken portraits of (almost) all the children and a large number of caregivers. For the website, but above all, for them. It was an honour to do!