By Abby Turpin, Director of Communications, Keep America Beautiful

(October 11, 2021) – Keep America Beautiful is proud to have over 700 affiliates throughout the US. The great work being done for our environment is also seen outside America at six international affiliates.

Elijah Mensah, Executive Director of Keep Ghana Beautiful, and his team are leading the way in Ghana, most recently with Keep Ghana Beautiful’s first beautification program in the capital city of Accra. Mensah saw the need to beautify the Mile 7 Interchange Roundabout. The space was gradually becoming an illegal dump site and car park. Mensah and volunteers, with the support of city officials, sprung into action to clean, green, and beautify the space.

“In the wake of the alarming uncontrolled urbanization and unplanned settlements in our cities, which is making way for environmental degradation, we planned to undertake our first community beautification to signal community members on some of the detrimental impacts on the environment and the actions they can take to restore it,” Mensah stated to Keep America Beautiful. “This was to bring back a sense of community.”

In an effort to use the project as a teaching tool, Mensah and team recruited and trained 25 students at a local high school, St. John’s Grammar Senior High School. Over 300 flowers were planted. The students are maintaining the site for one year, and the program also laid a foundation for continuity. As part of the “Young Stewards Education Program,” Keep Ghana Beautiful is planning to establish an “eco-club” at the school to continuously educate students about the importance of taking care of the environment.

“The students were so excited. They learned a lot, they had a lot of fun, and would love to do it again,” Mensah said.

To date, Keep Ghana Beautiful staff has educated over 1200 students about the importance of cleaning and greening so that everyone lives in a beautiful community. Keep Ghana Beautiful is also working with the local Department of Parks and Gardens about adoption of the Mile 7 Interchange Roundabout, so the work that’s been done will continue for years to come.

The many projects of Keep Ghana Beautiful are being noticed more and more.

“My chief observation is that people are engaging with us. We had over 50 volunteer subscriptions, and our Facebook reached 2,000 likes, 47 shares and over 100 comments for the first time on sharing digital pictures,” Mensah shared with Keep America Beautiful.

In June 2020, Keep America Beautiful announced the certification of Keep Ghana Beautiful, which became Africa’s first affiliated organization with Keep America Beautiful. It was previously called Help Change Ghana and was established in 2014. Learn about the organization and its many programs, including the “Great Ghana Cleanup,” “WeRecycle Medical Support,” and the “Young Stewards Education Program” on their website: CLICK HERE. 

“Our mission is to provide expertise and programs to empower local volunteers to take action to prevent littering, improve recycling, green and beautify our communities.”

Elijah Mensah, Executive Director, Keep Ghana Beautiful