... and HOPE stood tall.

It's surreal sometimes ... an out-of-body like experience, seeing myself still on this journey  I started for ESF (if you're new to this blog, that stands for Energy Solutions Foundation, my NGO); seeing the projects I've worked on, and still on, are things I never thought I could accomplish or have enough time and energy for; things I have absolutely no academic and professional background in. Yet, I am actually ...doing them ... and getting them done right.

DO YOU KNOW HOW EXCITING THAT IS FOR ME?!

Below are images of the recycled things I designed and actually made last month, after a bit of hiatus:

Our RECYCLED coffee table (BornAgain! product line: discarded car tyre, metal rod, and construction plywood.

ALL the recycled and upcycled products from the latest BornAgain! range of designs.

The upcycled BornAgain! Notebooks, Drinking glass, and the Coffee Table. #sustainability #recycling

The back of our upcycled notebooks: old tealeaf boxes used to make files for keeping 'things' safe.

Old T-shirts, and old sponge ... and voila! A mop, a rug, a bathmat - it works!

Our fabric scraps and cushion corner seat - recycled  from old fabrics, cushion, and  a metal rod.

The full album is on my Facebook ESF Page, here.
What do you think about them? Tell me. 

I have also found more inspiration for this pioneering work in the Energy, Waste, and Recycling industry, meeting and working with a sister NGO concerned with the plight of mentally challenged and handicapped people; and having travelled through Benin's Songhai Centre, through Nigeria and seen the energy challenges, through Kenya and seen the innovations, through Togo, Burkina Faso and seen how the African sub-region is (not) handling the most pressing need of the people - ENERGY. POWER. FUEL.

I know what these projects do for me. They keep hope alive. For me, and the many people who now own some of these items.And the many other people who are about to benefit from owning one. And the many others who are being taught how to make one via my district and area programmes, and the many others who will sell some for a commission. That means profit, livelihoods, skills, capacity-building. 
That means HOPE.

OUR ECO-LABEL – BornAgain! UPDATE II.



BornAgain! Eco-Rocker



BornAgain! Eco-Rocker in use



Woah!

Been a minute since I last blogged in December.

It’s what … March now? Dag, how time flies.

How time flies when yer having fun. And I have been having fun.

Oo yeah. Having fun skinning my hands and limbs, hammering my fingertips silly, blistering my palms, sweating the f**k outta my pituitary glands, and getting all grimy and dirty for our eco-label BornAgain!. Read about our Tuori Fundraiser if you’re now hearing about it … weirdo. 0_0

Yep. I’ve been building trendy, competitive, good standard furniture out of discarded car tyres, common materials, tossed-out stuff, and a ton of imagination. Not only that, but I’ve been crafting recycled footwear too. Yes! Yes! Darn, good-looking, actually usable, durable, adorable, chic, trendy footwear, out of … you guessed it … discarded/spoilt car tyres! Combined with other materials, as the design permits – leather, fabric, beads, etc.

Last time I posted, I shared the inspiration for the label BornAgain! (by now I assume you HAVE read the link I referred to you just above), and the intention to launch something every 4 weeks.

Well, whew! Motherhood and work and school had me embarrassingly backsliding for a bit, but now, hello!! I am back and with 3 new products!:

-      The BornAgain! Eco-Rocker ( a rocking chair design)

-      The Return of AfroMoses (unsiex footwear inspired by poet DK Osei-Yaw)

-      The Rampunzels (female footwear inspired by the world ^_^)

For the photoshoot images (kind courtesy of the darling Desire Clarke), do click here won't you?

Now, I know how most times, we have people dreaming up a concept and then having other artisans and craftspeople doing the actual polishing up in terms of engineering and technological set-up, putting it all together, then building it? Well, in this case, I 100% designed these, and 65% built them (the footwear was 100% my work though). So when you are looking at them, know that a hard-working woman put em together for a better future for the kids and the country and the world and all o’ that. Ha!

All these designs (furniture and footwear) used a lot of car-tyre material in it, the inner tubing of some tyres, old leather etc. All profits of the sales go to ESF (the NGO’s) projects, and the current project of priority is the Tuori Fundraiser.

So far, we have raised GH¢2560.00 out of the targeted GH¢5000.00 ($3500).

We are very excited here at ESF about all the endless possibilities scattered before us. We began this journey 3 years ago, in July 2009, insisting on taking it patiently, but doggedly – never quitting, always delivering and ever-persisting. 3 years later, countless media interviews, presentations, forums, collaborations, consultations, data-gathering, research, travels and trips, 5 inventions, 1 magazine cover later – we are growing in unmistakeable consistency and reputation.

We signify hope to a growing minority of GH youth and Ghanaians; we engender possibilities that were just yesterday considered impossible; we are succeeding in drawing more people to believe in us and join in the dance of Green.Sustainable.Eco = Life.Future.Jobs.

We pioneered renewable energy advocacy and charity in Ghana and the sub-region. we pioneered a woman at the forefront of such an entity. We pioneered a youthful Board of Directors of such an initiative.

We broke the rules and blazed a trail. It broke our bones but not our resolve. We healed, andkept healing. We can’t be held back now. The world is our path. But as I often say … without you, all this sh*t.

Join us.

P.S. Wanna see our pics? Click here.