The Earth – Our Heart
ServiceSpace
--Micky O'Toole
13 minute read
Jan 31, 2015

 

I had the pleasure last year of meeting through a Service Space connection Owusu-Fordjour Alexander, better known by his artist name “Ita Bobo.” I learned that Mr. Alexander is a musician in Ghana who started an NGO called Earth Replenishers Foundation. The more I learned about Mr. Alexander, or “Ita Bobo,” the more inspired I became by the work he is doing in Ghana. Over the next few months through a series of letters, I asked him many questions about this work which to my delight he patiently answered. I would like to share his answers and his beautiful vision with you.


Owusu-Fordjour Alexander (“Ita Bobo”)

Micky:
Bobo what led you to contact me at Service Space?

Ita Bobo
I came across Service Space over the internet and, having read about its activities, I said to myself, this is the right place to be. I quickly joined and started reading about some of the members. I came across your profile. When I read your reason for joining service space: “I believe my purpose in life is service through small acts” pierced my heart, so I connected to you. I also connected with a few other members. I sent you my projects, and your response raised my morale. I will forever thank you for this, and your reward is with the Lord.

Micky
I’m so glad you reached out to me. I was so touched by the work you are doing and with all you have done with your music. Music is a perfect teaching tool because a song is much more easily remembered than a bunch of facts. Your music shines a very bright light in the world. You provide people with crucial, life-enriching and life-saving knowledge about health and disease prevention. I’m really happy to be even a small part of that work.

So, Ita Bobo, I want to know more about you, where you live, how you got started. I am also really interested in the work you’re doing now with your music. So tell me about yourself!

Ita Bobo
I am an African who lives in Accra, Ghana. I am an Environmental Health Officer and a musician. I was born in Twifu Praso, a village in the central region of Ghana. My artiste name is Ita Bobo. I am passionate about creating music for my people on positive behavioral and attitudinal change.


Ita Bobo and young fans


Micky
What inspired you to start playing and composing music? Did you come from a family of musicians? Can you talk a little about your family and your years growing up in Twifu Praso?

Ita Bobo
I have loved listening to music all my life. I can’t even sleep without music. Because of my passion towards music, I was elected the “Entertainment Prefect” in our junior high. My mother saw the music spirit in me and tried to discourage it because she wanted me to be a medical doctor. When I went to senior high, my mother warned the Headmaster not to allow me to engage in any musical activities. I come from a family of five children. We lost our dad when I was 13-years old. I know she was trying to do what she believed was best for me, so from that moment until I left for university, I respected her wishes and gave up my music.

Once I finished high school, I got a job and was earning my own way. Since I was no longer under my mum’s care, I returned to music. In all that time, music hunted me and never left me alone. I promised it I would be back. The music spirit came back to me, and I will never let it go again. It is a part of me. I started writing lyrics and composing music. I recorded one of my songs, and when people heard it, “Boom!” They loved it! I was very encouraged, so I decided I would carry more music to my people. I am thankful to God, because now my mother sees how greatly my music impacts greatly, and she is very supportive of my work.

Micky
What inspired you to start using your music to reach people about awareness and prevention?

Ita Bobo
The central theme of my music and poetry is teaching awareness about the link between disease and poor sanitation, hygiene habits and nutrition. I have written about malaria, sanitation, open defecation, biodiversity, fruits and vegetables, regenerative health and nutrition, street children, disability and Ebola, among others. Before university, I was an experienced musician with a portfolio of studio-recorded songs. I was inspired to create such music when I entered the Accra School of Hygiene, a tertiary institution in Ghana. What I learned in my school about environmental health had a profound impact on me. It became very clear to me that the current situation of diseases and improper sanitation in my country could be made better with simple steps. I have seen many people lose family members to preventable diseases. It touched me so much that I wanted to teach the people of my country what I had learned. It occurred to me that I could use my music to teach.

Micky
Can you talk a little about your time at Accra School of Hygiene? I read an article about a boycott in 2006 owing to conditions of the building and the poor living conditions of the students there. Another article suggested the school was in danger of shutting down. Did this impact on your decision to start ERF or was this before your time there?

Ita Bobo
I entered Accra School of Hygiene in October of 2006. The boycott was on 15 January 2006 so I wasn’t part of it, but I felt the impact. I even wrote a song about the school which I performed during the “Hygiene Week” celebration. This song was very well received and even influenced the Ministry to renovate the school hostel. This was so wonderful, and the school, in appreciation, allowed me to stay in the Hostel for two years in order to carry out my work for the musical teaching programs while I studied.

Micky
When did you begin writing teaching songs?

Ita Bobo
In 2008, while still in university, I was inspired to write a song about everything I had learned so far in my studies. I composed it and went to the studio and recorded it. I performed that song at an open-mic “Entertainment Night” in Accra, and it was very well received. I immediately had offers of assistance from many people including Ministers of States to help me continue and expand my work.

Micky
That sounds wonderful! Were you able to expand your ministry with the help of those inspired by your music?

Ita Bobo
Unfortunately the help offered never became more than words. I was discouraged, but I never gave up. I finished my university studies in 2009 and received a degree in Environmental Health. While I searched for employment, I also searched for ways to take my music and my message to as many people as possible. I sat down and meditated, and I had a revelation from the Bible, from Genesis 1:28 which states:

“And God blessed them and said, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fishes of the sea, the fowls of the air and over every living organism that moveth upon the earth.”

In that moment the idea for the name “Earth Replenish Foundation” was born and with it, our motto “The Earth Our Heart.” I believed that my work was a calling from God and that it came with a very clear blessing. I vowed to obey the Creator.

Micky
What came next?

Ita Bobo
Next I had to create the NGO. My friends guided me through the process, and in 2010 “Earth Replenishers Foundation” (ERF) became an official NGO. My next step was to build a website for ERF. I went online and taught myself how to build and design a website. I was proud to launch our ERF website in 2012.


Earth Replenishers Foundation Members

Micky
Your focus was primarily teaching through music, so did you begin with schools?

Ita Bobo
Yes. I launched my first activism campaign on June 18, 2012 at the Effort School Complex in Dansoman, and it was a great success. I was very happy by the warm reception I received from the children and educators. The Ghana News Agency wrote an article about our efforts which helped to spread the word: “Earth Replenishers Foundation Launches Maiden Environmental Campaign.”

Micky
Yes I read another article about Earth Replenishers which worked with another NGO, New Community Foundation, run by Madam Mimi Amy Payne. Can you talk a little bit about the collaborative efforts between your NGOs?




Ita Bobo
Yes. I have not only worked with Mimi Payne and her NGO “New Community” but with many other NGOs with the same vision such as “Pals of the Earth” and “Youth Volunteers for the Environment.” When I began taking my music programs to schools, I brought Mimi Payne on board as a chairperson because she is a strong person and very active in the community. Our collaborations were very strong and useful.

Micky
I notice the article refers to a “Mr. Moses Al Hassan, Director of ERF.” I know there was a specific reason why you couldn’t name yourself as director at the time you formed your NGO.

Ita Bobo
Yes. Moses is one of the directors and founders of ERF as well as a friend and mentor. He believed in me and in my idea for form ERF and he has been of great help to me since the beginning. He even supported me financially to register the Foundation. In Ghana there is more weight on the speech of an adult than on the youths, so I brought him on board the Foundation for our voices to be heard. I was not yet a legal adult, so until I could take over, I acted as the Project Manager. This is because I have adequate knowledge about organizing programs and was very active. I did not have the funds, however, to run the Foundation’s daily activities, so Moses helped me in the beginning to get ERF started.

Micky
So you began speaking and performing in schools and in the Accra Festivals. At about that time, you launched your first music video. Can you tell me a little bit about how you did that?

Ita Bobo
Yes, I wanted to reach more people, and a music video by way of the internet and on television can reach thousands of people at a time. So I began walking around Accra and taking photographs and videos in places where there is indiscriminate disposal of waste. I uploaded these photos and videos live, every day, to our new website to generate interest and support for ERF. I used these same photos to make a video for my first sanitation song “Everywhere They Pupu – Borla.” I used the Windows program, “Movie Maker” to make the video then uploaded it to my YouTube page. Later I did a song on regenerative health and nutrition: “Healthy Lifestyle” by Ita Bobo.

Micky
What kind of reception did your videos get?

Ita Bobo
It was very exciting. I had my first contract from Ministry of Environment Science and Technology to produce a musical video on biodiversity and also perform at the World Environment Day: “We Are One – Biodiversity.” This helped me to raise funds for ERF’s first complete and official music video on sanitation: Ita Bobo Ft. Hon Aquinas Quansah - Official Video: Everywhere Dey Pupu” on my new YouTube page and this song was on national television for a couple of months.

I also had the chance to perform at the Netherlands Embassy (WASH Program, Ghana). I wrote music for the Embassy performance about sanitation in relation to the World Cup titled “Who Will Go for the Ball?” and performed at the Ambassador’s residence. It was a wonderful experience.

Micky
What kinds of obstacles have you faced along the way?

Ita Bobo
There have been many challenges since my first idea as a student to help my people with my music. My greatest challenge was in 2013 when I worked to get my music video Ita Bobo Ft. Hon Aquinas Quansah - Official Video: Everywhere Dey Pupu”) on Ghana National Television metro TV. I spent approximately USD $2,500 to organize the video clip. When it was all set to air, the television station demanded USD $500 a month, in advance, for six months, before airing the video clip. I was very discouraged, but fortunately for me that was the time I had my first salary (back pay) from the Government. I was only able to pay for six months, which is not a lot of time in the media market. I had to reassure myself that at least some people saw the video during that time. I prayed that my music would fall on fertile ground in the hearts of my people.

Micky
That sounds like a very difficult time, and I really admire your tenacity and dedication. There’s a quote by Randy Paucsh about obstacles in which he says that the obstacles are there to test your resolve. If you are to be successful, the obstacles only stop other people.

Ita Bobo
Yes. I had to keep going. I believe music is a perfect medium for teaching awareness. I founded “Earth Replenishers Foundation (ERF)” to create impactful awareness for a positive behavioral and attitudinal change. I use all creative medium at my disposal such as cinema shows, debates, poetry, music and drama. Those who support ERF believe with me that verbal and visual Information, provided to an individual continually over a considerable period of time, tends to imprint itself positively and almost permanently in the subconscious mind of the recipient. To produce a musical video clip for airing to many people over a period of time costs much more money than I can provide on my salary alone. This has been my greatest challenge.

Micky
How are you able to use your music now with the tools at your disposal?

Ita Bobo
Right now, I am able to create short videos from still photography for social media such as YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and other social media, and this is a very good start. I am saving right now for a video camera so that I can produce short and meaningful video messages such as the one I produced for television. As mentioned, I was given a grant for the video aired for television, but my costs were much more than the approximately USD $2,500 grant. My costs included the rental of a video camera ($ 500), directing ($400) shooting and editing ($1,000) transportation ($350) costumes ($300) refreshment for school children and other participants ($600) cleanup campaigns ($700) and many other miscellaneous expenses.

Micky
Wow that is way more than I realized.

Ita Bobo
Yes. I believe that, since I was so inexperienced at making a video, perhaps some of the prices were inflated. This was a very hard learning experience since I could have perhaps produced more videos for the price I paid. However, now I know more about making a video, so in the future I will be able to avoid many of the problems I encountered the first time.

Micky
So you work with the schools, and you perform at festivals, and you’re creating videos. What is the next step?

Ita Bobo
I and the people who support our NGO, Earth Replenishers Foundation continue our work, but the needs in Ghana are great and our people are suffering. I know that, with a few simple tools, we could help many more people by raising awareness through music. I know nothing at this time about fund raising for an NGO, but I have learned many things in my life. This is the next step.

Transportation is also one of my major challenges since I have not been able to raise money to purchase a (private car) pickup truck for my to and fro. The distances from community to community to undertake a program of this magnitude and scope are very far. I end up paying a lot on hired transportation alone.

Micky
I have really enjoyed watching your music videos and live performances. Are you working on any new songs?

Ita Bobo
Thank you. Yes, currently, I am planning on releasing an album with the teaching songs as well as some new songs, possibly this year. The first song we hope to release is a song about the Ebola crises. Ebola is not in Ghana, but it is in the nearby country (Ivory Coast). We see the reports coming in on television and on the internet about the suffering of those with the disease. We see the doctors and nurses who care for Ebola patients dying. Their dedication and suffering pierced my heart and deeply saddened me. From this great pain came my inspiration to compose a song about Ebola.

Micky
Thank you Ita Bobo for sharing your story. I’m so grateful we had a chance to connect, and I'm really excited to see what is in store for the days ahead. I believe the work you are doing is so important, and you use such a beautiful way through music to reach people.

Ita Bobo
Thank you. I strongly believe that knowledge empowers and protects more than any weapon. Music provides awareness, information, happiness and entertainment, but the most important function of music, I believe, is that it provides hope. 

 

Posted by Micky O'Toole on Jan 31, 2015


5 Past Reflections