The Rubbish Show

Most people here in Tanzania prefer to use plastic bags which they discard on the street, posing a major environmental problem.

I met Lucy at Faye Cran's. She is a gardener from London who is here to set up a recycling project. It has not been easy but she has not given up. She is always upbeat and bubbly so I love to help her out. She is putting together a fashion show for this Sunday using plastic bags or used fabric to raise fund for her project and educate people about the business opportunities of using recycled materials.

We got together yesterday to make handbags for sale at the event. The ladies from Sibusiso help sewn the bags using lien cut from shippers and leftover fabric. I then decorated them with ribbons, buttons laces donated by the local taylors. It was hard work but fun and creative at the same time.

We are putting out flyers printed on the back of used menu at the tourism office and several hotels. I even helped with creating the banners to put up along the main road to advertise the event.

We hope that the project will help the poor family start a home industry by selling products using recycled materials.

From Tanzania, Africa