“Miss what Africa look like?” She leaned over the table waiting for my answer. I told her it was beautiful. She asked me like where? I could see she really wanted to know and although I was pleased I was surprised.
A few months earlier this little girl and a few other children who came to the Di Institute for Social Leadership (ISL) were distressed about the rumors that we were going to take them to Africa. They said they wanted to talk to me and settle this matter. Was I taking them to Africa? They did not want to go. They did not like Africa because it was full of people who would eat children, take them away from their parents and kill them. It was full of starving people. After a long conversation with them, listening to their fears explaining that I was not trying to take them to Africa, but I have been there and I am African and I love Africa, they slowly stopped coming. So I was surprised when I saw them again that evening and the little girl whispered to me “Miss, what Africa look like?”
Her question is all I could think about for the rest of the evening. How could I tell her more? There must be others like her who want to know. Little girls and boys who have the same question. Little African Girls and Boys living in Jamaica who didn’t know what Africa looked like expect what the adults told them if they did tell them anything or what they saw in some Nigerian films. There must be more children out there with the same curiosity.
I decided I was going to show them photos. I thought that I could collect photos about Africa and create an exhibition. An exhibition about Africa, especially for children. We could call the exhibition “Looking at Africa”.
For those who couldn’t come to the exhibition at the ISL we would take the exhibition to them, maybe libraries maybe schools.
The exhibition will open on Monday Feb 2, 2015 at Di Institute for Social Leadership and continue running throughout the years in different locations.
We are asking people who live work or travel to Africa and who have photographs to contribute them to the exhibition.
You can be a part of the exhibition by submitting your photos of Africa to leadtochangeja@gmail.com or telling us if you would want to give a talk our presentation about Africa during the exhibition.
For more information
Contact
Afifa Badiliko Aza – Creative Director and Co-founder
tel: (876) 799-0102
di institute for social leadership 
Reblogged this on Learning to Live and commented:
This is an account of something that occurred in a community learning space in Jamaica in 2014. Some of the children that were involved in workshops and activities in the space began to get scared because they thought the teachers wanted to take them to Africa and they were afraid of Africa so many stopped coming to the space. For me this brings up the questions: Why are we so afraid of ourselves? and What do we teach our children about Africa?