GIZO-GIZO: A TALE FROM THE ZONGO LAGOON 

Gizo-Gizo! was awarded Best Book for young people in the 25th Children’s Africana Book Awards. Additionally, Gizo-Gizo! is part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Book Club. In Hausa culture, you often begin telling a story in the same way: The storyteller says, “Gatanan Gatananku!” “I am about to begin!” And the children respond, “Tazo Mujita!” “We are all ears!” The conceptual framework for this project originated out of a larger, community-based initiative called the Zongo Water Project, whose mission is to use water as a way to improve the quality of life for the Zongo. Working closely with local teachers, Emily Williamson carried out a series of educational workshops at the Hassaniyya Quranic School in the summers of 2012, 2013, and 2014 to teach students about local water and environmental concerns. Employing the story as the foundational element, Emily engaged students in dialogue, shared readings, performances, writing exercises, and visual art, culminating in community drama performances and original folktales. The illustrations and text of this book grew directly out of the work produced in these workshops. 

Authorship (Independent and Academic-MIT): Emily Williamson with the Students and Teachers of the Hassaniyya Quranic School in Cape Coast, Ghana; Edited by John Schaidler; Funded by MIT’s Public Service Center.

*To purchase Gizo-Gizo, please follow the link here.

*To watch Emily’s reading of Gizo-Gizo at the Library of Congress, please follow the link here.