A Place of Creative Minds
· On my daily walk through the market, I notice some new hand-made good each time. The people of Ghana have such creative minds and have mastered the task of “reusing”. The water here does not come in bottles, but in plastics sachets. It is a sealed mini “water pillow” of water and you bite off the corner to drink and enjoy it. Some places have began to reuse these sachets to make various good. I have seen purses, rain coats, umbrellas, and even entire soccer nets made out of used water bags. If that is not creative enough, during my walk yesterday I noticed some very interesting sandals. They looked very sturdy and were all black and rubber. At a closer glance, I realized they were made out of tire rubber from stray flats the locals found on the side of the road. The tire rubber proved to be a very practical sandal material, and very affordable, considering it is free once found. Locals also leave out buckets everyday during the rainy season to catch water. This water is used for cleaning the house mainly. Occasionally it may be used to clean dishes or to shower with when the water in the house is not working. All of the broom handles in my house are also made of reused aluminum cans. My personal broom for my room is made out of red bull cans. I can only imagine all of the other items, deemed, trash to most, that the people of Ghana have turned into sellable goods.