Dear Chris-Vincent,
The ALS ice bucket challenge was meant to be a simple and fun way of raising awareness for a debilitating and terminal illness. Ever since the campaign started, a lot of money and awareness has been raised for Lou Gehrig’s disease. The ALS research center at Johns Hopkins University has reported over 80% increase in its endowments. We all hope to hear of a cure for this debilitating and terminal illness soon.
The purpose of the challenge was to raise awareness and MONEY for ALS research. That’s exactly what the challenge has accomplished. Yes, a lot of people have used the challenge as nothing but a popularity stunt, but it does not withhold the fact a lot more people know about ALS now than they did a month ago.
Back in our neck of the woods, things are completely different. All over Instagram, countless of Ghanaian celebrities have uploaded pictures of videos of themselves, pouring buckets of ice cold water on themselves. A lot of these local champions wear weaves. I always thought the number rule for wearing weave was: Never get it wet! I guess that’s beside the point. After pouring ice cold water on themselves, these “celebrities” claim they plan on donating money to a local NGO in Ghana because there is NO ALS society in Ghana-as if we did not know that already. As much as I’d like to congratulate them for being abreast with current affairs and helping fight a good cause, I cannot pretend. How many of these local champions support a local charity?
Our love of everything Western is shameful and crippling. Joselyn Dumas took to twitter to bash her fellow stars for their “ignorance.” A lot of people were proud of her. These same people who did not agree with Ama K Abebrese’s skin bleaching campaign, but who am I to judge?!
Joselyn’s campaign, although a good start, is an impractical solution to a serious problem. Cholera is caused by filth! Everywhere you look, our gutters are filled with garbage and feces. Instead of starting a campaign where individuals post pictures of themselves with their mouths covered, and the inscription, “I’d rather starve than eat contaminated food.” How about I suggest something practical? CLEAN THE FILTH AROUND YOU.
You want to end cholera? Get out of the studios. Get away from your smart phones and pick up a broom! Organize a community cleaning campaign. Get rid of the feces and filth. #CleanUpThisMess. That’s the most practical solution to the cholera outbreak.
From: Nana Esi Takyiwaa Cudjoe
Editor’s Note:
Personally, I will like to commend Joselyn Dumas for the social media buzz but from a conversation I had with an excellent mind, the question was and still remains; how is Joselyn Dumas’ cholera campaign going to have any practical impact just as the above reader noted.
The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) campaign had a huge social media buzz but that was not very important to the campaigners, they wanted to raise money to help with drug testing and for other ALS things, these are practical things that will go a long way to help ALS patients and help with finding a cure. They achieved this by raising more funds in less than 2 months than they raised in the entire 2013…
My issue is, the many of us on social media have had at least basic education and therefore, we know much about cholera—the causes, symptoms and prevention. Cholera is taught at basic school levels, not like ALS where such awareness was somewhat new to even some of us with higher education.
What I am trying to point out is that, the actual people who need the Cholera awareness and education are not on social media, they are those on our streets, the uneducated mothers living in filth and in villages. I am not sure these people have access to internet, let alone twitter or facebook accounts.
The practicality of this campaign therefore rests on going to the grass root and not necessarily the celebrity or seemingly interesting social media buzz. You can use social media to raise funds as the ALS perfectly did, but I do not see the instrument being used in such a way for the cholera campaign.
I just hope more attention will be given to the issues that will fetch the real needed impact and help bring cholera in some of our poorest communities under control. Also, let’s pray the campaign has some sort of longevity—and not take the cloak of campaigns like #bringbackourgirls.
Good one!
This Joselyn girl doesnt know what she is up to. The university students on twitter need cholera education? no, it is the trotro men and the villagers who do not have smart phone to be on social media. maybe she just wants attention
This campaign is purely for attention and nothing else. Instead on coming up with a practical solution for the hard hit lower class to identify with, u want to show us photo uploads of yourself. aH!
I really doubt whether these ‘local champs’ are willing to help clean Nima gutters, villages with garbage, etc…to minimize the spread of cholera. I also dont think she really researched the mode of transmission of cholera, demographics, or efforts that have been made in the past to eradicate cholera.
I am just speculating anyway….
You people are telling the truth, this is more of a practical thing. Miss Dumas needs to hit the streets with her celebrity friends I believe a lot of non-celebs will be willing to help. There are many choked gutters and dirty streets to start with.
I knew where this article ws going as soon as I started reading; yeh at first they weren’t doing anything abt it except fr uploading those pics with their mouths covered but now, I think once u do tht u have to choose a town or an area to go clean or smethn. For instance I.K funnyface, Bridgit of tv3 (went to Nima to clean), etc r doing that so it’s nt all abt just uploading the pics.
weak campaign
The people who are affected most by cholera do not have access to social media so I knew from the onset that this campaign was just for show. Secondly, i saw Joselin giving out hand sanitizers last week. Has she provided rubbish collection means for the plastic to be dumped after they are used or did she not realise that it will end up in the same gutters again? Joselin clearly did not think this thru, she was more in a hurry to start something just to bluff her fellow colleagues she had critized abt the ice bucket challenge. She has not cleaned up one single community herself. Not even her own area. Let me give u free consultation Dumas, contact the Accra mayor or even zoomlion and have a meeting with them if u are serious. Getting Yvonne Nelson et al to pose for u when she won’t break a nail with a shovel is just as useless as the Ghana celebrities doing ice bucket. People are struggling to find food, do u really think they will close their mouth in reality? they do not have the luxury like you to say the won’t eat food from the slams so get practical and stop this nonsense. Do u even think they can afford hand sanitizers after yours is finished?? Ah bah! And for the record if those plastic sanitizers are dumped in the gutters we are cleaning, I will personally collect them all to your doorstep becos it was your campaign!!!
You took the wind out of my sail. One of our major challenges is managing plastic waste so why is she adding more? Clearly this girl did little research. Over the weekend, lifeboy soap went around with a portable tap to teach people the correct way to wash their hands. Who told Joselin that hand sanitizers is best. The cheaper option is actually using water to wash your hands. Why can’t Joselin engage people who know more abt public health to direct her?or even get translators in various languages to have one on one talks in the deprived areas abt cleaning up the mess. Are you using social media to gain attention for yourself or becos ice bucket is on social media, u also use social media when the lower class can’t even read, write or have access to social media let alone upload pix. For goodness sake, please do some practical and feasible for the less privileged and stop this range rover class campaign.
merci beaucoup, thank you