Survivor Of Gambaga Witch Camp Speaks At Norway Conference On Witch Hunting

Suuk Laari speaking at the Coast Contemporary 2022 Conference

A woman who spent 15 years in the popular Gambaga Witch Camp in Ghana's Northern Region after being accused of being a witch has travelled to Norway for the first time.

The woman who bears the name Suuk Laari was in Tromso, Norway, as a guest of honour for the Coast Contemporary 2022 Conference.

The purpose of the meeting is to increase public awareness of current witch hunts.

Facebook user Larry Ibrahim Fataka Imf, and PhD Research Fellow at UiIT The Arctic University of Norway, posted Suuk's story on Facebook.

The master's thesis that Larry Ibrahim Mohammed published about the Gambaga Witch Camp served as inspiration for the conference's subject.

"Suuk Laari has lived for 15 years in the Gambaga witch camp until this month. Last week, she joined us at the Coast Contemporary 2022 conference in Tromso, Norway to help raise awareness on modern day witch-hunt.

"I am extremely proud yet humbled to have worked with Tanja Eli Saeter, Founder and Executive Director of Coast Contemporary, to make Suuks participation a possibility and also for co-curating the Ghana part of the Program with me," he wrote.

Suuk was identified as a witch-hunt survivor by Larry Abraham in additional information he gave.

"Suuk Laari lived in the Gambaga Witchcamp for 15 years. Like everyone from the Camp, her story unites with other women there who run away for their dear lives after being accused of witchcraft.

"The month of September 2022 will stand out as one of the best in her life. Suuk and Samson Laar, coordinators of the Gambaga witch camp and the Presbytery, go home project, were invited to attend the Coast Contemporary conference 2022 in Tromso, Norway. Suuk was among the Guest of Honor," he wrote.

He also spoke about the address Suuk Laari delivered at the conference, which focused on her personal story.

"Suuk Laari delivered a keynote, narrating the detail of her story on how she ended up at the Gambaga Witch Camp and her experiences while living there. She asked for a global effort to fight and criminalized the accusation of witchcraft and for more education on eradicating bad cultural practices. when asked about her thoughts on closing the witch camps, she emphasized that it is akin to scratching the surface of the problem. According to her, Without the witch camp. she would probably have been dead and forgotten."

In contrast, Samson Laar pleaded for extra assistance in order to provide food for the ladies at the Gambaga Witch Camp.

Reuniting the ladies with their families and resolving any issues that could have prompted them to move to Gambaga have been the coordinator of the Go Home Project's primary responsibilities.

The Ase Hiorth Lervik Award for the finest master's thesis with a gender theoretical viewpoint was awarded to Larry's thesis in 2021 during a ceremony in Tromso, Norway.

Photos of her in Norway;

Suuk Laari and Larry Ibrahim in Tromso Norway

Suuk Laari and Larry Ibrahim in Ghana

Suuk Laari and Larry Ibrahim at a conference in Tromso Norway