The interest of young Ghanaians in photography and videography is increasing as many have taught themselves to handle the camera with others have also gained experience through apprenticeship.
With few to no formal institutions training students to be world class photographers and videographers, a man identified as Paul has set out to construct a million dollar photo library named ‘Dikan Centre’ in the country.
As a man on a mission, Paul has left no stone unturned to realize this dream and has single handedly collected over 30,000 books to stock the library and has already engaged stakeholders and registered his non-profit in Ghana.
He’s formed a Board of Directors consisting of Ghanaian educators and business people, met ministers and government officials. He has also networked with publishers, executives, and administrators in America.
There are a lot of people willing to help by donating resources and expertise, but they are currently in a holding pattern while they wait to see if Paul can raise the funds to make this dream a reality.
Paul who has been consulting with architects and contractors and has at his disposal drafted plans and sketches of the library which involves a modern library, courtyard, photo and film studios, theatre, gallery, events space, outdoor exhibition yard, archival rooms, storage, classrooms, centre for kids and teens, media centre, and offices. An estimate for a complete replication of plans for the erection of the library alone will cost $1,000,000 and can be completed between two to three years.
However, Paul’s priority is purchasing land in a prime area in Ghana’s capital, Accra. Upon researching properties that meet his vision, he has to cough up $500,000 to acquire the land.
Having monitored Paul’s work obsessively on this project for several months, Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York fame started a GOFundMe to enable Paul realize this dream. Over a space of 3 days, the fund which has a $1,000,000 goal has so far raised $1,166,020 and counting, from donors from all over world.