Dear Mr. President,

I am a photographer with huge concerns for the environment. Please allow me to tell you a story about my Mama’s village.

You see, once upon a time, in the middle of the village, there existed a huge forest called Python-Forest. The forest seemed to bother the people in the village because it was home to many animals including some enormous African pythons. From time to time the pythons came and stole livestock, poultry, and the like belonging to the people of the village. One day they agreed to get rid of the pythons.

In doing so, they cleared the whole forest. It was a good bounty – trees were to be used as firewood, forest game as food, and extra land was acquired for agricultural purposes. In the end, everyone thought it was needed and mostly for the best. Decades later, somebody thought and realized that it did not rain like it used to. Years later, someone else thought and realized that when the pythons were around, it rained heavily. And in the rainwater, the pythons came from the forest for their livestock and poultry. Ah! The python-forest was no more! Nor was the rain.

You see Mr. President, the fruits and rewards of nature’s existence are enjoyed together by all. The rain falls upon every land where we then have sunshine for all and clean air for all to breathe. But when we convert resources of nature into economic resources, not everybody benefits. You would agree that the distribution of our nation’s wealth is unfair and unequal. You should agree because the masses agree, and agreement amongst the masses is the most powerful, more powerful than the office you occupy. It is my prayer that the masses know this.

Mr. President, I would like to bring to your attention the quarrying activities going on in Shai Hills. The activities going on in Shai Hills is a crime against nature punishable by death. Judging according to “an eye for an eye”, the activities are killing the people and destroying the beauty of our land along with it — the land our forefathers fought to protect, only to be destroyed by selfish individuals and for profit.

Mr. President, I am a photographer who has fallen in love with the beauty of our landscape. Have you seen the magnificent inselbergs at Shai Hills? To look upon them when they appear silhouetted in front of an enchanting sunset sky is truly magical. Please, pause for a moment and try to picture that. You will be left in absolute awe of our God. It really is a magical place to be.

Here is the problem: the quarry dust is clogging the lungs of men, women, and children in these communities. The quarries are too close to the people. Have these humble citizens been condemned to death? Must they rise up against you like their forefathers did against the colonial masters before the quarries stop?

The quarries are leaving big holes in the earth. How would you feel if you were living with a big hole in your tummy? The earth is alive, Mr. President, and right now it is dying with all her beauty.

You see Mr. President, though you should, we do not think you know of everything that is happening on our land. Given that countries have suffered the effects of quarrying and now have to invest billions into restoring the land, your experts will tell you this is true. Why then are we going the same way? Please tell us how it benefits our country and her people to allow those historical inselbergs in Shai Hills to be reduced to rubble? Tell us with every shred of honesty in you, Sir. If it’s the money, then I can tell you there’s always another way, as one would tell a criminal. And the way we are going as a country is an unpardonable crime against nature. Shai Hills holds unearthed history; lives have been lived atop the inselbergs; discoveries are yet to be made; the professors are out overseas seeking more wealth. Money seems to be ruling the world, and we have become the weapons of destruction of this earth.

By executive order you can end this. Declare the Shai Hills resource reserve a national park. That will expand the reserve’s land space and then the quarry licenses will be rendered invalid. Just like that. That should be the end of the wicked who destroy the land. It is what the people want. Your experts will tell you it is the right thing to do. You would then go on to plant trees to replace the quarries because trees protect the land, as the hair protects the head and its contents. The trees will heal the earth and clean the filthy air in the city, which is only 45 minutes away. You see, a huge, concentrated number of trees in a national park at Shai, just 45 minutes from the capital, is bound to attract a lot of our shit called co2 away from the city. The trees need the co2, hence they will attract it. They go for it, kind of like we also go in search for food. That is what trees do.

Let’s face it Sir, the capital stinks! If it didn’t, once in a while you’d find yourself turning off your a/c and rolling down your windows to inhale the fresh air (if any). Let us not leave the stench to only the windowless troskies. And outside of the cities, God knows there are limitless untarred road networks, even in Shai where the historical inselbergs are destroyed for construction purposes.

I have asked my fellow citizens what is up with the fighting in parliament? Have we elected a babbling, bumbling, band of baboons? Shouldn’t they be united in building our nation?

Mr. President, as Ansel Adams once said, “It is indeed horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save our environment”. This means the governed are fighting amongst themselves, and Christ the Savior of the Christians as the “Christians” in this country love to put it, said that “a nation that fights against itself shall not stand”. We want to stand tall, Mr. President, and we believe you do too.

Mr. President, if you really care about being a true son of the land, start acting in benefit of the environment. Make that executive order now! Stop the activities that are destroying the historical inselbergs at Shai Hills.

Our youth shall be employed to plant trees to heal the land. Hell, if they won’t, the world will send volunteers to do so if need be. God knows they want to come!

The quarrying will eventually bring down the Shai Hills resource reserve. I have witnessed the rocks atop the inselbergs cracking over time. It is just a matter of time before they come rolling down. People from all walks of life come to climb them all year round, people from countries where they are immensely cared about. We need to start caring, Mr. President, in order to prevent a disaster from happening. Better safe than sorry. It will ruin our reputation as one of the tourist hotspots. Tourism is the new gold anyway. Stop the quarrying and turn to it. That will yield more money since that is what we want. And it will protect the earth in the process.

 Abandoning a well-paying job to photograph our landscape has taught me that money for daily bread is essential. I believe the same for my country. Destruction isn’t the way; doing the right thing is. By doing the right thing, we are brought face to face with the help we need. Photographing landscapes is the right thing for me, just as protecting the land from vampires is the right thing for you to do.

Mr. President, I hang on to hope that you shall act to stop the mindless quarrying at Shai Hills. Always know that three things will last forever: faith, hope and love. Love is the greatest. Move for love, Mr. President. God loves all, he is more favorable to one who loves.

Tetteh Unity

Afterword

My photographs convey the simple yet wonderful beauty of nature that nature gifts us season after season. In the rainy season, trees blossom and bear fruit; the fields turn green; wildflowers bloom bringing with them beautiful insects like bees and butterflies; the sky is blue and snow-white clouds appear, travelling across the sky from east to west.

The trees shed their leaves in the dry season, teaching us that we have to change with the season. Bare naked trees become beautiful portrait subjects with a background of an enchanting December sunset sky.

We tend to miss nature’s gift of beauty due to our now busy lives, or worse because of urban and industrial development. In a hundred years, man has changed the face and beauty of the earth more than nature has changed herself. Entire forests destroyed; whole mountains brought down. We have polluted bodies of water killing the life in them, made filthy our shores, and the list continues.

Nature is our best chance at emotional and physical survival, yet we destroy her. Are we not harming ourselves? Poisoning ourselves by our own thoughtlessness and greed?

Ansel Adams (God bless his soul) once wrote, “Since all life and it’s continuity are dependent upon the earth, our ultimate security must rely upon wisdom, compassion, determination and the awareness of the unity of man and nature.” I agree.