EXPLORING

THE PRESENT

EXPLORING

THE PRESENT

EXPLORING

THE PRESENT

chapter

02

chapter

02

chapter

02

Cut to 2023

Ama’s granddaughter lives in a different Wa. Single-use plastic has gone from being deemed as a superior and cheaper alternative to paper bags across the world, to being seen as a global environmental hazard. 

Cut to 2023

Ama’s granddaughter lives in a different Wa. Single-use plastic has gone from being deemed as a superior and cheaper alternative to paper bags across the world, to being seen as a global environmental hazard. 

Cut to 2023

Ama’s granddaughter lives in a different Wa. Single-use plastic has gone from being deemed as a superior and cheaper alternative to paper bags across the world, to being seen as a global environmental hazard. 

Across Ghana, the single-use plastic bag has cycled from solution to looming problem, with indiscriminate disposal clogging waterways
and leading to flooding during the rainy season. The land is constantly polluted by the burial of these mostly non-biodegradable chemicals
and by mountains of its toxicity in landfills. Even the air is polluted by
it as the open burning of residential waste with a large concentration
of plastic has become commonplace. With one million single-use plastic bags being consumed across the globe every minute by the year 2011, many countries started taking action to curb its use and reverse the trend.
And in 2023, this mindset reached Ghana.

Across Ghana, the single-use plastic bag has cycled from solution to looming problem, with indiscriminate disposal clogging waterways and leading to flooding during the rainy season. The land is constantly polluted by the burial of these mostly non-biodegradable chemicals and by mountains of its toxicity in landfills. Even the air is polluted by it as the open burning of residential waste with a large concentration of plastic has become commonplace. With one million single-use plastic bags being consumed across the globe every minute by the year 2011, many countries started taking action to curb its use and reverse the trend. And in 2023, this mindset reached Ghana.

Across Ghana, the single-use plastic bag has cycled from solution to looming problem, with indiscriminate disposal clogging waterways and leading to flooding during the rainy season. The land is constantly polluted by the burial of these mostly non-biodegradable chemicals
and by mountains of its toxicity in landfills. Even the air is polluted by it as the open burning of residential waste with a large concentration of plastic has become commonplace. With one million single-use plastic bags being consumed across the globe every minute by the year 2011, many countries started taking action to curb its use and reverse the trend. And in 2023, this mindset reached Ghana.

In the Upper West Region of Wa, some youth decided, enough is enough. They saw how single-use plastic was polluting their communities, creating awful and dirty living conditions, and severely lowering their quality of life.
They decided to call in and partner with Theia International’s Youth 4 Circular Future (Y4CF) to develop a project that would explore the local context of the problem in-depth with a mind toward generating local solutions that would actually work. They talked the talk and walked the walk alongside Theia’s partner, “ 91.1 FM Info Radio”, to reach more than 400,000 people in the Upper West Communities.

In the Upper West Region of Wa, some youth decided, enough is enough. They saw how plastic was polluting their communities, creating awful and dirty living conditions, and severely lowering their quality of life. They decided to call in and partner with Theia International’s Youth 4 Circular Future (Y4CF) to develop a project that would explore the local context of the problem in-depth with a mind toward generating local solutions that would actually work.

In the Upper West Region of Wa, some youth decided, enough is enough. They saw how plastic was polluting their communities, creating awful and dirty living conditions, and severely lowering their quality of life. They decided to call in and partner with Theia International’s Youth 4 Circular Future (Y4CF) to develop a project that would explore the local context of the problem in-depth with a mind toward generating local solutions that would actually work.

And so, the Action 4 Cleaner Communities project was born

The 1st Circle of this project
saw the youth going into the
field and analysing their environment with multi-dimensional questions in mind.

The 1st Circle of this project saw the youth going into the field and analysing their environment with multi-dimensional questions in mind.

What are the sights and sounds here?
What do you smell?
What can you taste and touch?
What are the contexts around these dumps?
Are there schools, homes?
Are children playing around these dump sites?
The idea was to focus on discovering and analysing the reality of the local situation, not yet trying to propose solutions but fully understanding the problem in its local context. Not focusing on statistics from France or research out of the United States but instead, observing and noting their localised reality and coming to a common understanding of their situation. 

The 1st Circle of this project saw the youth going into the field and analysing their environment with multi-dimensional questions in mind. What are the sights and sounds here? What do you smell? What can you taste and touch? What are the contexts around these dumps? Are there schools, homes? Are children playing around these dump sites? The idea was to focus on discovering and analysing the reality of the local situation, not yet trying to propose solutions but fully understanding the problem in its local context. Not focusing on statistics from France or research out of the United States but instead, observing and noting their localised reality and coming to a common understanding of their situation. 

Finally, youth from three participating schools, as well as the Children’s Parliament, organised a massive clean-up effort in the main spaces within the city of Wa, moving from exploring the issue to confidently getting involved. Taking all precautions while getting their hands dirty, the youth were able to see intimately how damaging the dumps really are to every aspect of their environment. From how the burning of these plastics affected the air quality to how these chemicals affect their soil. Leaving more hazardous materials alone, the youth focused on what they could safely do: separating polyethylene bags and plastic bottles and calling the local recycling company to collect. 

But the youth did not stop there. They followed up. 

Where did the recycling company
carry this waste?

The answer came as an unpleasant surprise—the waste was just going to the unmanaged open dumping fields where it got burned. So the youth realised that despite making a conscientious step for better, the end result was still environmental toxicity.
So, their next step was to raise their voices and make their dissatisfaction heard. They held a large demonstration on the streets of Wa presenting their ideas in a very local fashion and making the statement,

“Something is very
wrong here and we are not standing for it!”

The outcome of this 1st Circle was therefore comprehension and confidence.
Not yet finding a solution, but understanding the nuances of the problem and being brave and bold enough to step into the fray knowing that a change COULD be made, and that they could be the ones to do it.

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© 2023 y4cf All rights reserved.

Partner:

Info Radio Ghana

Project by:

THEIA INTERNATIONAL e.V.

FUNDED BY :

ENgAgEMENt global service fÜr entwicklungsinitiativen