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

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We tell women how to price their products, how to add value, how to do marketing, and everything in between“ And yet, Isatou persisted. Twenty-five years later, her photo is on display at the national museum in Kachikally and in popular city restaurants such as Smile Lounge in the touristy area known as Senegambia. Her story has been told in books and documentaries. Above all, WIG is not only still active, but it has also expanded into nearly every corner of Gambian society and is inspiring countless individuals and groups to find solutions to problems other than plastic waste. The women continued with their tiny business, now also making shoulder bags and cosmetic purses from plarn. Many of them were earning money for the first time, and they were able to use it to buy food to help their families through the ‘hungry gap’ – the three months in the year when there were few crops from their farmland. Their husbands noticed how their family’s lives were improving and encouraged their wives in their purse-making. The women no longer worked in secret, and soon others joined them. Within a year, Isatou’s community recycling project had grown to 50 women and she named it the N’jau Recycling and Income Generation Group (NRIGG). Moreover, she spreads awareness about plastic being the worst polluters in the environment. Educating people about recycling and its effect in reducing the amount of plastic waste. Miranda is a teacher and children’s author. She first traveled to Gambia in 2003 as a teacher and discovered Isatou’s project. Twelve years and five trips later, her research and collaboration finally brought the finished book to the world. “Through interviewing the women of Njau I learned the importance of determination and confidence when working on something worthwhile.” Miranda currently spends her days writing new books, traveling, raising butterflies and foster animals, and speaking at schools. Learn how to invite her to your classroom at www.MirandaPaul.com.

Isatou: Before I started this work, everywhere you would find plastic bags flying all over the environment. Njabe Ndaw (left) and Nyime Dibbo learn to make organic fuel briquettes at the Recycling Innovation Centre. Photograph: Louise Hunt Isatou met a Peace Corps USA Volunteer in Gambia, where she learned how to reclaim plastic waste. Now, members of the movement craft wallets, bags, and toys for children-all of which came from reclaimed plastic bags that they cut knit and sew. With more than 2,000 members in 40 different communities throughout Africa and projects with the European Union, the movement has come a long way. Mongabay Kids: What was the plastic bag pollution problem like in your community before you had the idea to recycle the bags into products like purses?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! 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. Undoubtedly, Isatou’s story is unique and remarkable. It teaches us that we all have a duty and a responsibility towards our environment and that our little efforts can go a long way. Having spent a lot of time in Senegal and a little in Gambia, I can tell you that there are lots of wonderful strong women working to empower other women. I’m not sure what the numbers are now, but for quite a long time, Senegal had significantly more women representing them in parliament that we had here! (in UK). They’ve not had a female president yet but it can’t be far away! You only have to type Ceesay's name into YouTube to see the impressive speed and skill with which she can turn supermarket bags into fashionable purses. She is able to produce two and half purses everyday, and believes that doing so has helped saved numerous lives in her village. “If you leave it in the environment, people will burn it to light fires and get cancer and other incurable diseases,“ she tells me. “Donkeys and cows will also eat the plastic and die because they cannot digest it.“

After the reprocessing sessions, the community recycling project provided a week’s training to help participants form their own businesses or social enterprises. The idea is that this knowledge will cascade through the communities, with women encouraged to organise their own training events after completing the course.Projects coordinated with rural women’s groups amplify women’s voices in their own development, as they are trained in income-generating, leadership and decision-making skills. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION 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. Five female activists who are changing the world". Responsible Business. 2019-03-08 . Retrieved 2019-11-01. Isatou Ceesay (born 1972) is a Gambian activist and social entrepreneur, popularly referred to as the Queen of Recycling. [1] She initiated a recycling movement called One Plastic Bag in the Gambia. Through this movement, she educated women in The Gambia to recycle plastic waste into sellable products that earned them income. [2] [3] Early years and education [ edit ] Isatou Ceesay was born in 1972 in a small village in Gambia, Africa. When she was a child until she was a teenager, she used a woven basket to carry goods to and from the market. When the basket broke, she took a plastic bag and started using it. She likes how strong and light the plastic bag was.