{"id":38190,"date":"2024-11-10T01:17:11","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T06:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/music-stars-sing-praises-of-team-sweeping-ghana-clean\/10\/11\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-11-10T01:17:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T06:17:11","slug":"music-stars-sing-praises-of-team-sweeping-ghana-clean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/music-stars-sing-praises-of-team-sweeping-ghana-clean\/10\/11\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Music stars sing praises of team sweeping Ghana clean"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Known as Buz Stop Boys, a group of mostly young professionals and tradespeople are driving a new wave of civic responsibility in Ghana, picking up brooms and shovels to clean up the mounds of rubbish that are an eyesore in cities and towns across the country.<\/p>\n

Their initiative has won the admiration of local celebrities and politicians – and even caught the attention of some UK teenagers who flew to the capital, Accra, to join the clean-up.<\/p>\n

“Our goal is not just to clean the streets but to change mindsets,” Buz Stop Boys leader Heneba Kwadwo Sarfo told the BBC.<\/p>\n

“If we can make people understand that keeping their environment clean benefits everyone, we\u2019ll have a cleaner, healthier, and prouder Ghana.”<\/p>\n

About 12,700 tonnes of solid waste is generated in Ghana each day<\/a>, with only 10% disposed of properly.<\/p>\n

Fed up with the filth and flooding it causes, Buz Stop Boys go around Greater Accra two to four times a week to clear clogged drains and gutters, pavements and roads, as well as to cut over-grown grass.<\/p>\n

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More than 40 men and women – from midwives to carpenters to military officers – have joined the movement [Buz Stop Boyz]<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

The number of volunteers will vary, depending on who has spare time that day.<\/p>\n

A civil engineer, Mr Sarfo formed the group in July 2023 with just five people. He called it Buz Stop Boys, knowing the name would resonate with the public.<\/p>\n

“The rich and poor, everybody knows what a bus stop is,” Mr Sarfo said.<\/p>\n

His small-scale initiative has now blossomed into a movement, with more than 40 men and women – from midwives to carpenters to military officers – joining.<\/p>\n

“Social media has been key in getting more people to join our movement,” Mr Sarfo said.<\/p>\n

“Through our videos, we\u2019ve been able to change the mindset of some people, but there\u2019s still a lot of work to do.”<\/p>\n

It also led to a group of UK students visiting Ghana during their summer break to help with a clean-up operation in Ablekuma, an area in Accra notorious for its waste disposal issues.<\/p>\n

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British volunteers joined the group on their clean-up missions earlier this year [Buz Stop Boys]<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Mr Sarfo saw their visit as an inspiration for more locals to get involved.<\/p>\n

“Don\u2019t sit back at home and say you don\u2019t care. One thing is key, without [the] environment we are useless, we are nonentities, and we can\u2019t survive on this planet,” he said.<\/p>\n

Popular musician and human rights activist Sister Derby has thrown her weight behind Buz Stop Boys, praising the activists on her Instagram and X accounts.<\/p>\n

She told the BBC that she had been touched by their “pure selflessness”, and she and her brother had one day joined them to clean a stretch of a street market in the heart of Accra.<\/p>\n

Dancehall star and businessman Shatta Wale has also rallied behind the group, helping raise 30,000 cedis ($1,830, \u00a31,415) during a live TikTok.<\/p>\n

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