The Crafty Recycling is a team of young Gambian ladies who are making name for themselves in the waste recycling industry of The Gambia.
The team would collect wastages like plastic spoons, old car tyres, CD players and newspapers amongst other things to recycle them into beautiful household designs such as centre tables, sofas and flower vases etc.
“I did not like to see waste because i believe that every waste can be changed into something useful,” Fatou Jange, one of the group members said.
Ms Jange who is a full time employee of Qcell GSM Company, explains her passion for recycling waste which she develops from her childhood hobby. She would be collecting scraps around places to create beautiful and adorable things out of them. She continues with the passion even after she starts working at Qcell as a desk officer, she would still collect the plastic spoons and scrap papers from the office to recycle them into beautiful things at home which she sells to people.
“I have a full time job at Qcell,” she said
Fatou explains that her passion for recycling started with a programme on the internet known as ‘DIY’ that means Do It Yourself which she always like to put into practice.
“I also see that waste management is a problem in The Gambia, so I decided to collect waste to recycle it into something useful,” she remarks.
The Craft Recycling ladies would go to the Bakoteh dumpsite to get old car tyres to recycle it to beautiful sofas and centre tables to sell it to their customers.
Talking about their challenges, the Craft Recycling team complain about the lack of adequate funds to support their projects such as the need to have a store to keep their waste materials and also shop to sell their products. They have the willingness to train the young people to learn craft recycling skills.
“There is nothing impossible in life. I was not even an arts student but still I have not given up,” she said.
Fatou encourages young people to engage in skills works to support themselves and their families because everyone cannot be in the offices.
Gambia support your own. The team can be reached on the following contacts:
