All photos taken by Vlad Vanderkelen © Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Belgium
On Friday February 9th 2018, Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium visited our Sunflower School Project which is run by the Recycle Up! Ghana Team in the capital Accra (as part of Technology Without Borders – TWB). The Queen arrived in Ghana on Wednesday February 7th 2018 for a three-day state visit which is believed to be aimed at championing and assessing the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Ghana. Accompanied by the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation Mr. Alexander De Croo, the Queen of Belgium visited several local projects in Ghana. Our commitment in tackling the country´s waste challenges was recognised as one of the promising projects supporting the achievement of the SDGs. This prompted the Queen to witness what we are doing at the project grounds of the Recycle Up! Ghana initiative.
Her Majesty Queen Mathilde together with her entourage arrived at the Sunflower School on Friday morning as was warmly received by Mrs. Laurice Ahiabor, the proprietress of the school. Following that was a welcome address by our initiative´s national coordinator Abdulrahim Shaibu-Issah. Just like any other “project day”, the students of the Sunflower School were taken through an educational session about ways to ensure proper sanitation which was led by Julius-Jayson Botchway, the Team Leader of Recycle Up! Ghana´s Accra wing and an Environmental Education Expert. He spoke on the theme ‘The Landfill Site and Us’ and emphasized on existing challenges connected to landfill sites as well as on the need to find alternative ways of waste management. The session was concluded by a demonstration of plastic craft making by eco-artist Rufai Zakari from our partner organization Hipsters of Nature. Besides that there was an exhibition session showing plastic crafts created by the students of Sunflower School, followed by an interactive session between the Queen and the students.
This very special day at Sunflower School was supported by various committed volunteers of our Accra Team: Miss Diana Tackie (Project Leader), Miss Gloria Kumah, Miss Linda Ofeibea, Miss Samira Salihu, Miss Rosina Eckener, Mr. John Kpesese. The Queen expressed her appreciation for our work by stating the following:
“I am very pleased with what you guys are doing, coming here is already a great gift for me. Keep doing what you are doing. And as you said earlier about this (the RUG project): with the future leaders of your country … this will change your country. God bless you”
All photos taken by Vlad Vanderkelen © Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Belgium
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