One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of Gambia (Millbrook Picture Books)

Product Information

The pursuit continued, with the women diversifying their creations to include shoulder bags and cosmetic purses, all crafted from plarn. This venture not only marked a breakthrough in waste reduction but also became an economic lifeline. Many women were earning for the first time, helping their families during lean periods. The newfound income bridged the gap during "hungry months," a period of scant agricultural harvest. It is women who are in charge of waste and they are dedicated to their communities, and can really contribute a lot,” said Ceesay. Chris Seekings talks to Isatou Ceesay about recycling plastic in The Gambia, and her mission to protect the environment while driving female economic empowerment

But Isatou wanted to find more ways to share her knowledge and help people in her village. In 2000, she got a job as a language and culture helper with the Peace Corps and, through this, she helped to secure funding to build a skill centre in N’jau, where the women could meet and work together. Here they could learn about the importance of caring for their environment and about the dangers of burning plastic. Isatou started to teach classes on subjects such as gardening, soap making and tie-dying, and the women were able to sell many of the things they made. She had learned about nutrition and gave cooking demonstrations on how to prepare meals full of vitamins and minerals to keep their children healthy. In 2012, Isatou won a Making a World of Difference Award from the International Alliance for Women. Two years later, NRIGG became the Women’s Initiative Gambia, and today Isatou has trained over 11,000 people all over her country in the dangers of plastic and the opportunities for upcycling waste. But her work has had an even bigger impact as, in 2015, the Gambia’s government banned the import and use of plastic bags. Silver: Lee and Low Books * Chronicle Books * Capstone Young Readers * Tuttle Publishing * NY Media Works LLC/KidLit TV Isatou: Before I started this work, everywhere you would find plastic bags flying all over the environment. Five female activists who are changing the world". Responsible Business. 2019-03-08 . Retrieved 2019-11-01.

One plastic bag

These techniques are already in use in neighbouring countries. For example, the Waste to Wealth programme run by the UK-based Living Earth Foundation has trained slum dwellers in Sierra Leone and Cameroon to form social enterprises producing charcoal briquettes and plastic slabs. I have family in Senegal and Gambia and know well the precarious nature of their existence. Ironically it was only a few years ago that Senegal discovered oil on their coast and there was much excited anticipation of the revenue it would bring. Now they need to harness wind and solar power.. Resources which are not in short supply in Africa! Isatou's endeavours were recognised in 2012 when she received the Making a World of Difference Award from the International Alliance for Women. Her brainchild, the 'Women’s Initiative Gambia,' has trained over 11,000 individuals across the country on plastic hazards and waste upcycling opportunities. Her efforts earned her the title "Queen of Recycling," a moniker well-deserved. Students could make Before and After posters of the plastic bag situation in Isatou's village. Alternatively they could research their own recycling issue and create a Before and After campaign complete with radio, tv and print advertisements.

In 2012, she was awarded the TIAW “Difference Maker” award in Washington, DC, United States. She remains humble and not arrogant even though there is a book written about her and hopes that it will inspire others to join or can become makers of change in their own communities.Autumn 2 - Where will the polar bears live? Inspired by The Last Polar Bear by Jean Craighead George During the rainy season, plastic waste becomes wet and difficult to take and after that still takes patience to dry it before it can be processed. She explained that during the rainy season it would be more difficult to collect garbage. Plastic waste will certainly be wet so it needs to be dried before it can be used.

The initiative has since grown beyond plastic recycling to include other areas of recycling—such as briquette production from discarded groundnut and coconut shells and bag production from used rice bags—as well as teaching entrepreneurial skills and empowerment to women, youth and disabled groups. Today, hundreds of women, youth and disabled groups across the country are benefiting from WIG. “I think that when you abuse your environment, you abuse yourself” -Isatou Ceesay

Next generation

Isatou had an idea. What if the plastic bags could be used to weave useful products, such as purses, balls, or wallets? She figured out a way to cut the plastic bags into one long strip that could be woven. When she passes by the pile of rubbish, she smiles because it is smaller now. She tells herself, one day it will be gone and my home will be beautiful. WasteAid UK has offered support for The Gambian Women's Initiative, and Ceesay says it is helping to communicate her message far and wide. “I know that everyone working in sustainability is doing an amazing job, and if just 100 people read this I hope that maybe 25 can take away some benefit from what I am saying. This is my job, this is what I do, anyone that wants hear my advice is welcome – the more the better. I am so excited about the change we are all making together.“ The plastic was flying everywhere. What normally people did was just to burn the plastic bags to be able to get rid of the pollution. Otherwise, our animals, they will come across the bags and they will eat them. And when they eat them they will die and then we would lose a lot of income out of that. In the Gambia, the community organisation WIG has been educating communities about the hazards of burning rubbish, and teaching them how to recycle, since 2009.