October 19, 2024 from 1-2 PM
Life in a Ghanaian Village
Art opening, lecture and book signing with author Sylvia Morrison, Founder of Links Across Borders.
To celebrate the launch of Life in a Ghanaian Village, we are honoured to welcome Sylvia Morrison from Links Across Borders for an afternoon discussion with Lyceum Director, Holly Venable, about Links Across Borders’ work in education and advocacy in Ghana and her experience as a children’s book author.
The book, which is hitting best seller lists across the world, was illustrated by students of The Orchard Lyceum.
The original illustrations will be exhibited in the gallery for the next few weeks and we invite you in to view them!
If you know a young reader who you’d like to inspire with a story about participatory action, order it right now for it arrive in time for Saturday’s event so Sylvia can sign it!
About the Book
Life in a Ghanaian Village
Written by Sylvia Morrison and the students of The ICanClub
Illustrated by The Orchard Lyceum
Art Directed by Holly Venable, Sam Higgs and Olive Choisy.
Kpedze Todze, Ghana In 2018, our school was invited to work with a school in a small village in Ghana. Our school community donated library books and raised enough money to fulfill and ship a complete Montessori math setup. A few months later, I travelled there to volunteer to teach the teachers the math method we use in our school here. What developed out of this initiative has been beautiful. We have been penpals with the students there and continue to work together. Our latest project with Links Across Borders (the organization that sponsors this work) is launching today! That project is a book called Life in Ghanaian VIllage. The text was written by students in the I Can Club. The club meets every Saturday in Kpedze Todze Basic School. The illustrations were completed here by students at The Lyceum. This is a beautiful and meaningful collaboration with very tangible results. The way in which Sylvia can convert need into agency literally bursts beyond the book’s covers. Students in Ghana are being shown that writing stories is a real way to improve things. You can read about their story of becoming agents for change in the book. Their financial challenges are significant but their will, under Sylvia’s brilliant guidance, is formidable. Here is what a story can do:
“All the proceeds from the sale of this book go to the student Education Fund… providing scholarships for high school students. The story was developed by students in the village, about a real life condition that they are experiencing. Students are learning to find life changing solutions to life’s big challenges… This book is part of a solution.”
– Sylvia Morrison
You are personally invited to hear more about this incredible tale when Sylvia joins us here in the gallery for a lecture on Saturday, October 19th. The book is for sale on Amazon.
What Links Across Borders Does
- We Co-create libraries in collaboration with stake-holders and beneficiary communities in Ghana.
- We Facilitate training programs, and empowerment projects to build community economic capacity.
- We Support Teacher Capacity promotion through workshops, seminars, and material resources.
- Support and facilitate Girl Empowerment programs.
- We Coordinate various international visitors (Group & Individual) programs to promote cultural diversity, and education.
- We Provide international (global) and local (Ghanaian) internship & placement opportunities for college and university students and teachers.
About the Author
Sylvia Morrison is an educator, speaker, Life Mastery consultant, and humanitarian. She is the founder of Links Across Borders, a nonprofit organization that provide libraries and educational resources. To date, they have built eight libraries, coordinated over 200 Service Abroad experiences, and provides educational resources for children in Ghana, West Africa.
Sylvia is a Jamaican-born African Canadian. She is also the mother of two adult children and has two granddaughters. She enjoys stories and is on a mission to help children in rural Ghana tell their own stories, become published authors, and find solutions that change their world. Her bestselling children’s book Grace’s Lunch inspires readers to use what they have to create the change that they want to see in the world. Sylvia has appeared on Rogers TV and CBC Radio in Toronto, Canada, and has also received numerous awards and international recognition for her humanitarian work.
Ms. Morrison believes that every child deserves access to books, experiences, and opportunities that inspire them to express their imagination and creativity. She also believes that everyone, including children, can make a difference in the world by doing one small thing.
Through coaching, keynote presentations, and retreats, Sylvia Morrison inspires people to activate the dream in their heart, and create the change that they desire. You can learn more about her work at sylviamorrison.com and linksacrossborders.org.