Impact Stories & Blogs

By Anna Cheche, Tanzania (Cohort 22)

Nothing sends a bad signal about where you live or who you are, like a littered environment. When I look around me, I see efforts of reviving the image of my continent Africa. I take time to reflect and I ask myself what role I have to play in all these and my answer is always cleaning the environment around me. My community faces the challenge of littered environment caused by non-degrading waste as well as lack of durable and affordable building materials. The affected group is the low income earners because most of dumping sites are nearby their residences.

I have acquired a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Public Administration. At 24, I am the Founder and Managing Director of a recycling company called EcoWorth.

I started the company as an answer to my life’s calling, to offer a solution in waste management through recycling plastic waste and making new products such as roof tiles, paving blocks and even posts. EcoWorth addresses land and water pollution with the aim of creating and sustaining a health community to today and the future.

Through EcoWorth, our vision is to inspire our society to achieve the highest plastic waste reduction, recycling, and reuse through innovation and creativity that improves economic prosperity, environmental sustainability and infrastructure stability by transform waste to resource.

So far EcoWorth has created about 300 indirect and part time jobs to the waste collectors and eight permanent jobs to the machine operators.

Today, because of EcoWorth efforts, homes in the local communities are relieved, there are reduced incidences of waterborne and waste related diseases such as malaria, cholera, typhoid and diarrhea since most of the dumping sites found nearby their residencies are now cleared. They can now afford to have modern building materials which are eco-friendly, durable and affordable.

EcoWorth is determined to produce posts to be used as an alternative to timber for construction. This will reduce deforestation and save source of water, food and nature of the forest.  These posts are eco-friendly, durable and meet market demand.

Before I went through the YALI RLC East Africa program, the impact of achieving a totally clean and green environment was almost but a dream. In the program, I got in touch with the specifics of transforming my vision into a business; how to critically analyze a problem before moving on to providing solutions and also the steps of engaging the society in solution delivery. Today we are witnessing an amplified awareness and sensitivity in reuse and recycling attitude in the society. My society is in touch with my vision, they believe in it and we are working together to bring a change in our environment. I would never have been a better leader had I not answered the call to go through the program. To date, YALI remains my greatest achievement. Because of YALI, I am able to confidently join the task force of change makers in Africa.