Today we cleaned up a beach in a small village called Ola. The beach was full of pieces of trash. The locals often drop their trash on the ground. The trash they accumulate at home is burned in a large pile about once or twice a week. Both methods of disposal present huge environmental issues. Cleaning up the beach was especially gross because locals who live near the beach also shit on the beach and then bury it. Gross for those who were cleaning it. We worked with volunteers from other organizations, but I still couldn't help but think we should not be cleaning the beach. If Ghanaians dirtied the beach, shouldn't they be the ones to clean it? I have never seen Chinese citizens cleaning up American beaches? Nor have I seen Polish citizens picking up trash off of America's highways? I really think that all of the many NGOs in Africa are right in coming to assist in solving problems in Africa; however, I think they are wrong in doing the work that the locals should be doing. Ghanaians will not understand the real consequences of dropping trash wherever they please until they are the ones to pick it up and experience how nasty it is. Also, education is a very important factor in preventing the long-term effects of mismanagement of the earth. I could go on and on about that but at the end of the day, when people are struggling to have their basic needs met, environmentalism is their last concern.
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