A trip into the jungles of Africa may not seem like the greatest summer vacation experience, but for nine Durham Magnet Center students it was the chance of a lifetime.
Former seventh grade social studies teacher Alan Dehmer orchestrated the trip as a way to enhance the students' understanding of their African studies. "When you actually see it in the world, then it really comes home," he said. Drawing upon his previous experiences in Africa, he proposed the idea to Magnet Center students, who responded with enthusiasm.
Lori Ungemah, arts outreach and education coordinator for the University's Center for Documentary Studies, and a friend of Dehmer's, expressed interest in the project and suggested incorporating photography into the trip. This idea evolved into a full-scale exhibit now showing at the CDS titled, "Ghana: Two Weeks, Nine Students, Many Cameras."
The planning and work that made the trip possible was extensive. Dehmer and others at the school began organizing and raising funds last fall.
To fund the trip, students sponsored car washes, bake sales and school dances and petitioned churchgoers, neighbors and family members for donations. "The kids worked hard to raise the money for this," Ungemah said. Parental fundraising was also integral to success, she added.
As the school year ended, the select group of nine remaining students, who ranged in age from 13 to 15, prepared for their trip by examining traditional Ghanaian dances and symbols. The trip began with a long trans-Atlantic flight in mid-June to Accra, the Ghanaian capital.
At first, the city's lighted streets and impressive structures challenged many of the students' preconceptions.
"These kids were facing stereotypes about what they thought they were going to see," Dehmer said. Ungemah, who had studied African culture for several years, still found the experience moving. "The intensity of being there is nothing you can prepare yourself for," she said.
In Accra, the group met with Ghanaian Dance Ensemble Director Oh! Nii, who hosted their stay in the coastal city. Students and their adult chaperones learned traditional Ghanaian dance and music from the group, and most found the interaction overwhelmingly positive. "Everyone there was so warm," Ungemah explained.
The group then headed north to Kumasi, a lush city located among tropical rain forests. The size of the group, however, did not allow for an overnight stay in one of the local villages, so they spent their nights in a Christian retreat center.
Kumasi was the starting point for a number of day trips. A visit to a nearby rain forest territory and a conversation with a lumber worker were particularly memorable, said student Erin Wheeler. She and another student, Joanna Solkoff, argued with the worker about the consequences of his labor. The debate brought to life the issue of rain forest preservation for the visitors. "It was nice to be at the center of it," Wheeler noted.
Ungemah recalled their visit to a slave castle in Cape Coast, where European traders had purchased African natives from rival tribes. The students and chaperones found the visit powerful. "It became extremely somber and serious," Ungemah said.
Throughout the trip, group members used Polaroid ProPak cameras, which required special focusing techniques but allowed immediate photographs as well as negatives. "So many of them were really excellent photographers," Ungemah commented.
When the group returned, Dehmer and Ungemah selected photographs for the students' review, and those deemed most exemplary were chosen. The students drafted essays describing particular events, and the exhibit began to materialize.
Students then hung the photographs and essays at the Center for Documentary Studies and received visitors at the exhibit's debut Oct. 18.
"I think [the exhibit is] bringing a really interesting slice of the Triangle area in here to see it," Ungemah said.
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