What do the African Mermaid, Earth’s Mascot and the Women of Kantamanto have in common?

Dear supporter, subscriber, friend, ally, community member and inquiring mind, greetings from Accra! 

As we move through May, we carry forward the energy, care and collective action that shaped Earth Month. From the market, to the beach, to the classroom, these moments continue to remind us that the future is already here through community action, shared responsibility and the everyday work of imagining a healthier ecosystem for all of us. 

While every day at The Or Foundation is Earth Month, during April's Earth Month, we were joined by three influential figures to celebrate the work underway to reduce, reuse, recycle, and remediate our precious ecosystem in Accra, Ghana.

This Earth Month, we celebrated the theme ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ by honouring the collective action and resilience of our Accra community. The celebrations began with the Kantamanto Women’s Association (KWA), who marched to Efua Sutherland Park from Kantamanto to spotlight their vital role in circular fashion, labouring six days a week to resell, repair and upcycle the millions of garments that come into Kantamanto Market weekly. Follow KWA on Instagram!

The Tide Turners continued this stewardship at Jamestown Beach. We hosted a public Earth Day cleanup in collaboration with Sister Deborah (The African Mermaid) to remove plastic and textile waste, all while dancing to her song ‘Stop Waste Colonialism’ in celebration of diverting over 30 tonnes of plastic and textile waste from our beach every week. 

We returned to The Street Academy for the third year to mentor our young Planeteers, reflecting on our duty to protect Nshɔɔrna (the great ocean) and reaffirming that in the face of the global textile waste crisis, real transformation is strengthened through showing up and sharing our passion for a better, safer and healthier community as a value system instilled from a young age!

We are grateful that you’ve been a part of embodying that value system in some way. Help us keep the momentum going by donating here to support our operations, and if you’re in Accra, visit our Other Showroom at our headquarters in Adabraka!
 

Here’s some of what’s coming in May:

• Catch some larger than life upcycled designs emerging from our RemanufactOry Training at Foose Fashion in Sandviken, Sweden.
   
• Grab your ticket for TEDx University of Cape Coast. Our Head of Environmental Justice, Katia Osei, will be speaking!
   
• Find updates on the Tide Turners weekly beach clean-ups every Tuesday!

Until soon, go forth!

The Or Foundation Team