When a camera was placed in the hands of a student at the National School for the Deaf in Freetown, it represented more than a new piece of equipment. For the students expected to learn how to use it, the camera could become a new language — a way to document their lives, capture their communities and tell stories in a world where deaf people are often spoken about rather than given the opportunity to speak for themselves.
The donation of a camera, tripod and photography accessories marks the expansion of the Foto4Change Visual Storytelling for the Deaf (FVSD) initiative into Sierra Leone, bringing a programme that has already reached deaf communities in Ghana and Zimbabwe to its third African country.
But the organisers say the project is about much more than photography. It is an attempt to create opportunities for deaf young people to participate in visual storytelling and, potentially, the growing creative economy. “We believe deaf young people deserve the opportunity to tell their own stories, document their communities and participate meaningfully in the creative economy,” Geoffrey Buta, Team Lead at Foto4Change, told participants.
“This camera is not just equipment. It is a tool for expression, confidence, visibility and potentially a pathway to future economic opportunities.”
A different way of telling stories
The programme is being implemented in partnership with the Faculty of Media and Communication Studies at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. University lecturers and students will work alongside Foto4Change to provide practical training, mentorship and community engagement for selected students at the National School for the Deaf.
The partnership brings together three different institutions around a shared goal: making visual storytelling more accessible to young people who are often excluded from mainstream creative and professional opportunities. For many deaf people, visual communication already plays a central role in everyday life.
Photography, organisers believe, can therefore provide another powerful means of expression. Students participating in the programme will receive practical instruction in basic photography, including how to handle a camera, frame images, work with light and composition, and use photographs to communicate stories.
Rather than relying heavily on traditional classroom teaching, the programme will use a practical and participatory approach designed to allow students to learn by doing. Over time, organisers hope participants will move beyond simply taking photographs. They could become photographers and visual reporters within their own school and communities, documenting events, everyday life and experiences from perspectives that are rarely represented in mainstream media.
Building skills that can be shared
A key part of the initiative is its Training of Trainers model. Selected students will not only learn photography skills for themselves but will also be encouraged to share what they learn with their peers. The approach is intended to help the programme continue beyond the initial training sessions and create a more sustainable culture of visual storytelling within the school.
For Dr Francis Sowa, Dean of the Faculty of Media and Communication Studies at Fourah Bay College, the partnership also provides an opportunity to connect academic learning with community engagement.
University students involved in the programme will gain practical experience in teaching, inclusive communication and community-based media practice while working with deaf students to develop their visual storytelling abilities. The collaboration, he said, demonstrates how universities can move beyond the classroom and contribute directly to communities. For the National School for the Deaf, the initiative could open another avenue for students to communicate their experiences and develop practical skills.
Headmistress Mrs Kamara Cole welcomed the programme, saying photography could provide students with a powerful way to express themselves. “This is one of the best skills for them because it gives them the opportunity to express themselves and tell their stories better,” she said. “We are also looking forward to seeing some of these students gain employment in the future through the skills they acquire.”
Beyond representation
Across Africa and elsewhere, people with disabilities are frequently portrayed as subjects of charity, advocacy campaigns or stories produced by others. Foto4Change wants to challenge that approach. Its philosophy is built around a simple idea: deaf people should not only appear in stories — they should have the opportunity to produce them. “Deaf people should not only be subjects of stories,” Buta said. “They should also be empowered as storytellers.”
The Sierra Leone programme is the third country reached by the FVSD initiative and the sixth camera and accessories donation made under the project. The organisers hope it will eventually become part of a wider network of deaf visual storytellers across Africa, creating opportunities for training, mentorship, exhibitions and income generation.
For the students holding cameras in Freetown, however, that future begins with something much simpler. Learning where to point the lens. Learning how to capture a moment. And perhaps, most importantly, learning that their stories are worth telling — and that they have the right to tell them themselves.
As creative industries across Africa continue to expand, initiatives such as Foto4Change are raising a broader question about who gets access to the tools of storytelling. For Buta, the answer should include deaf young people. The challenge now, he says, is whether societies are prepared to make space for them to be seen not simply as beneficiaries of inclusion, but as creators shaping how the world is understood.
