Ghana Refugee Camp Inspires Dexter Artist

Local artist Judy Bemis is displaying her artwork at Joe & Rosie’s Coffee & Tea in Dexter through Monday.

The bulk of Bemis’ painting in the past three years has been devoted to people she came to know in the Krisan Sanzule refugee camp, located in a remote jungle an hour from the seaport city of Takoradi in west Ghana, Africa.

Along with other members and friends of , Bemis has made pilgrimages to visit refugees who have fled wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad and the Sudan.

Bemis, a member of Ann Arbor Women Artists and owner of Heart’s Ease Studio in Webster Township, took up painting after retiring from social work in 2005.

“I’m always awestruck by the incredible faith in God these traumatized people have, in spite of—or probably because of—having endured and survived the atrocities of war,” Bemis said. ‘I’m forever left with the indelible images of their faces which hold the marks of their experiences. I’m haunted by it and hope to convey both the pain of trauma and the resilience of their spirits.”

Even more amazing, she says, is the ability of the refugees—especially the children—to smile in the face of poverty and hunger.

On her first trip to the camp, as a “war-naïve” American, it dawned on her that the refugee camp is what "collateral damage" looks like.

“These are the people who were separated from loved ones, witnessed rapes, murders, homes being burned and had escaped with nothing but their lives,” she said. “By the time they got to a refugee camp, all they usually possessed was their story to be housed among others who also only had their own painful story.

“On our first visit, we listened to many of their stories, and that act of listening was probably the most important single thing we could do for these forgotten people. My wish is that through my paintings of these courageous people I’m able to convey something of who they are. I hope to tell their stories so they are not forgotten."

Prior to retirement, Bemis was employed for many years as a clinical social worker.

“I’m mostly interested in painting people because people have been my life’s work,” she said.

She sees a universality of expression in the faces of traumatized human beings, whatever the culture, race or reason for trauma are.

“The facial expression holds something of the hurt, anger and fear people have experienced and also a certain distance necessary to disassociate from the traumas,” she said. “The effects of violence done upon the human spirit are overwhelming. Although violence can maim and deaden it, it cannot necessarily kill it.”

The Ghana Ministry began in 2001, when the Rev. LaVerne Gill of Webster UCC made a trip to the country with other pastors. Deeply moved by her visit to the refugee camp, Gill invited others to join her. There have been eight “spiritual journeys” to Sanzule in nine years, and more than 50 people have made the trip.

Webster UCC has helped in a variety of ways, including financial support of 16 refugee young people though secondary or vocational school. From 2005-2008 the church raised funds to drill 11 water wells and build an entire water system not only in the camp, but in 11 other villages in the Western and Volta regions. The church also sends $350 monthly to the camp as an emergency food fund for the most vulnerable—mothers with HIV and their infants, and the elderly and disabled.

The camp still houses 1,350 refugees, and the only viable service provided is a clinic staffed by a nurse on duty 24 hours a day.

Despite incredible losses, Bemis said camp refugees still greet others by saying "God is good."

“That’s one of the most valuable lessons many of us have learned from getting to know these brave people,” Bemis said.

Bemis' art will be for sale in the Sept. 24 Webster Fall Festival’s Ghana Garage, a fundraiser to support the church ministry.

“We sell African artifacts plus good used clothing and costume jewelry and semiprecious gemstones,” Bemis said.

She has taken art courses at the Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Center, Washtenaw Community College and Eastern Michigan University.

Bemis has exhibited in juried shows at the Riverside Art Center in Ypsilanti, Southeastern Michigan Women's Center, Art That is Local Gallery at Whole Foods in Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor Art Center.

Bemis welcomes visitors to her studio, located at 6500 Jennings Rd. Call 734-646-6092 for more information.