Sophia-remarkable individuals-an occasional series

Sometimes, when a story seems too good to be true- it is true!

Sophia’s newly hatched NGO- Innovative Creative Foundation-was born out of necessity and a desire to counter a serious problem. The necessity was for employment; the problem, environmental threats posed by throwing away “rubbish.”

The raw materials for Sophia's products- rubbish.

Clearly gifted as a craftswoman and artist, Sophia took one of the major rubbish problems in Ghana- plastic bags-turning them into a raw material for creating beautiful and useful crafted products. Transferring weaving techniques for making straw baskets and the like, but instead, washing, shredding then weaving plastic, Sophia has devised methods for multiple production of a range of useful and decorative goods. Individuals, but more often collectives or extended family groups, are trained by Sophia, with no charge, to follow the production stages, and earn a piece work rate. An embryonic marketing team is establishing regular trade locally, in Accra and, importantly for growth and income, abroad.

Some of the products -all created from discarded "rubbish."