Ghanaian activist, Yvette Tetteh has swam the Volta lake in Akosombo which is about 500-kilometers long to draw attention to the tragic situation of water pollution in the area and country at large.
According to her, her she took up this initiative because per her observation and research currently, there is a crisis of waste management particularly with textiles.
“Looking at the number of second hand clothing that keeps coming from the global world to Ghana, specifically Accra is alarming. In places like Kantamanto right now, they’re actually processing millions of garments of clothes and so many of those clothes are ending up as waste in Accra,” she said.
She mentioned that areas such as old Fadama are choked with textile waste, and if care is not taken, Ghana may not have potable drinking water, hence her reason for the solidarity swim.
“We want to stop the problem before that happens. So, what we’re trying to do is just encourage people to be a part of our environment and enjoy it so that we have the energy to protect it,” she added.
Yvette Tetteh is a Ghanaian activist and entrepreneur who has been swimming since she was 4 years old. She noted that although she’s always loved to swim, she had to put in a lot of training to be able to swim as far as she does now.
Talking about the experience of swimming 3 kilometers in the Volta Lake, Yvette stated that it is always tiring to swim and even though she swims a lot, she’s always a bit tired afterwards.
“But today was really great, the weather is so nice today and it was really wonderful to swim with other people,” she noted.
The activist believes it’s easy to think something is impossible or really difficult, but she knows that anybody can do almost anything if they just try, take their time and really tackle the problem.
“Everyone is powerful and has the potential to have an impact and also to enjoy life and the world. It is just about taking the intention and trying what you can”.
By: Gyamfuah Owusu-Ackom
