In 2002, I worked as a Canadian government junior consultant in Cote d’Ivoire where I witnessed a media deeply implicated in engendering xenophobia and perpetuating political instability. This situation motivated me to found Journalists for Human Rights (JHR)- a Canadian NGO dedicated to empowering journalists to report on human rights issues in Africa. As I managed JHR’s project in Ghana in 2004, I came across the issue of Canadian mining companies and human rights for the first time. One of our JHR volunteers, Lyndsay Duncombe (CBC journalist), produced a short report for Ghanaian television on the water situation in Dumasi and the activities of Golden Star Resources. The company threatened her and her Ghanaian colleague. I knocked on the door of every

laboratory in Accra, public and private, hoping to test the water in Dumasi. Many refused evasively while others turned their back at me. No one wanted to be implicated in this controversial situation. As time went by, and our story was aired without any clear answers, the issue became a personal crusade for me. In my own struggle to find answers, I could only begin to imagine the constant struggles the local communities had to go through. I was dedicating all my energy to the activities of a human rights NGO in a country I had learned to cherish. The NGO’s activities were partially funded by the Canadian government, while on the other hand Canadian companies were slowly destroying the very communities for whom I had created this NGO for.  The contradictions were staggering. I was left perplexed and disturbed. I organized a workshop and debate for

journalists, where civil society organizations exchanged views with government officials and mining representatives about the environmental and social issues affecting local communities and discussed possible solutions to these problems.

A few months later, I pursued a Masters in Human Rights where my research focused on the extraterritorial responsibilities of the Canadian government towards communities affected by Canadian mining interests in Ghana. However, I knew that I would never have any respite until I produced a documentary on the issue. The situation in Western Ghana is a “visual” one. There is no better way to describe the living conditions of these communities than through their personal stories and the

environment in which they live. Less than a year after I completed by Masters, the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation in Toronto awarded me a Global Youth Fellowship which finally allowed me to begin working on this film with the aim of targeting the general public and Canadian policymakers.

When Silence is Golden is therefore a culmination of 3 years of constant reflections, research and dedication.

This is my first film, but my whole heart is in it.

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