This cultural is made up of deaf children from the cape coast school for the deaf
in GHANA precisely cape coast.
It was formed in the late 80's to unearth the artistic talents in our deaf children
most expecially in performing arts.
Under the direction of Mr. Moses Hooper, a
conscientious, hardworking
and dedicated director, the
troupe has put up tremendous shows/performances."
Below are
important events the cultural
group had
participated in :
The visit of the U.S. president to Ghana, Mr. Bill
Clinton.
The visit of the Sultan of Brunei,
etc
PANAFEST, KIDAFEST, JUNETEENTH CELEBRATING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVE TRADE and many others ETC...
It
is a fact that the troupe has made its mark in Ghana
being he first ever deaf cultural
troupe..."
Internally the troupe has travelled extentively .
The CAPE DEAF CULTURAL TROUPE is made up
of deaf children with majority of them living with guardians as orphans.
With the support of FRIENDEAF FOUNDATION and
other stake holders they are making great moves.
A word from the founder" ' DISABILITY IS NOT INABILITY' their shows attest to that
fact.
I know that I needed something to attract people so that they would come and hear my message...it's passion, but
also pressure that makes you create. Sometimes people create to survive.
African dance became the tool. Performing around
Cape Coast attracted interest for the group and helped the deaf and hearing participants realise their unique talents and
break down communication barriers.
The message of the group makes the social model of disability easy for people to understand.
After watching the dancers perform, the audience are asked:
Come up here and dance with us, in the way that we do.
Then we will ask you who is disabled?
The group has performed at a sponsored youths workshop in Ghana and links with
peace corps, the catholic archdiocese of cape coast in Ghana, this have led to various tours for the group.
As well
as performing African music and dance at more mainstream theatre or dance venues, the group also held interactive workshops
at mainstream and special schools.
Friendeaf always tries to involve the audiences as much as possible. We asked people
to join us dancing and taught them some drumming tricks.
Thinking about how far the group has come since the early days,
performing on the street in Cape Coast,
HOPPER commented "Who would have thought that deaf people in would listen
to and enjoy music and drums? Who would have thought they would be able to move their bodies in that way? Who would have thought
a deaf person could teach a hearing person to dance?"
Learning points
FRIENDEAF FOUNDATION is looking to create
opportunities to carry out similar activities both in Ghana and across Europe in the future.
They would like to:
*
publicise the opportunity better and more widely. There are so many people who could enjoy and benefit from dancing and drumming
with us
* make more deaf and hearing people understand how important the work is. FRIENDEAF FOUNDATION shows how much
deaf people can teach hearing people and how easy it can be to work together.
* see more organisations for deaf and
hearing people and for people with other disabilities get involved. The more people participate, the more inclusive our society.
We will like to extend our hands to you to support our children in kind or cash to enable our children meet the challenges
they face as disable.
