Hill House Meeting, Ghana

 
 

Coming together once a while to tidy up Hill House meeting is not new. Members often do this when there is a big task ahead and all hands are needed on deck.  Friends at Hill House Meeting  decided that during World Quaker Day, October 4, 2015 they would organise a clean-up not only at the meeting place but the surrounding community.

The clean-up was necessary because of many reasons. Members felt it was a community service, and was also in line with the decision of the authorities to set aside a weekend in every month for Ghanaians to carry out cleaning of their communities which the city authorities are finding difficult to contain.

One of the biggest source of waste in Ghana is indiscriminate disposal of plastic bags. With poor drainage system, the result of the choking of waterways by plastic was responsible for recent floods in parts of Accra.  Many were drowned others were killed in an explosion at a fuel filling station where many people were taking shelter and refuge.

As part of the measures to curb the misuse of plastic especially those which are not bio-degradable, the government has banned the use of some grades of plastic but the environment still has litter. On World Quaker Day, Friends at Hill House had a lot of work to do in the neighbourhood.

Meeting is considering how appropriate litter bins could be installed at vantage points in the locality to minimise littering and has also proposed to start producing cotton shopping bags.  This is to reduce the use of plastic bags and their subsequent littering. It was suggested the shopping bags could carry useful environmental protection messages.   A member of the meeting who is a textile designer says the project is viable and once logistics is in place, the project will take off.  A friend remarked  ‘’the clean-up had renewed our interest in helping to tackle the sanitation problem in our own small ways.’’  Hill House meeting would appreciate other ideas and suggestions the group can initiate in sanitation.

As part of activities marking the day, the Treasurer of Hill House, Edwina Assan granted Radio Ghana, the national broadcaster a radio interview.  In a four-minute interview, she spoke about the importance environmental cleanliness and the activity the meeting carried out in marking World Quaker Day. She mentioned that Quakers all over the world carried out some transformational activities,

Edwina spoke about the history of Quakers, how Quakerism was introduced in Ghana by some  of the pioneer British teachers of Achimota School and the signaificant roles Quakers have been playing in maintaining peace as well as protecting human rights.

On why little is known about group in Ghana, Edwina told Radio Ghana, that “Quakers don’t advertise as other churches do… our strength stands out in our activities’.

Mukuyu Village, East Africa YM North

  

Mukuyu Village meeting of EAYM N Celebrating World Quaker Day by worship sharing.