- 8 hours ago
Ghanaian singer Wiyaala returns to her village Funsi, using her fame to improve sanitation and community health. In Mali, an artist paints public buses to raise awareness about the dangers of climate change.
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00:07A pop diva and fashion icon from Ghana.
00:14Bothered about village toilets, really?
00:20Weyala means Vedua in the Sisa language and she sure lives up to her name known as a champion
00:27of girls and women's rights.
00:28Now, she has taken on another battle.
00:39She has a voice and a message and charisma to both, Weyala known as the Lioness of Africa.
00:51The singer-songwriter from Ghana is well known on the international stage performing in Europe,
00:57Canada, Australia and beyond.
01:01But we join Weyala as she heads back to her hometown of Munsi in northern Ghana.
01:09Right into the field that lies scattered about here and the trash.
01:15And then there's illegal deforestation and climate change.
01:20Weyala is back to raise awareness and get things moving.
01:26I thought, I cannot sit down and watch.
01:28If others are not going to do something about it, I'll do something about it and I'll use
01:32my popularity to do that.
01:34But to encourage people to come out.
01:36Hi, everyone.
01:37Yes.
01:38So, get to the house.
01:41Funsi is the capital of Wa East District in northern Ghana.
01:45It's home to about 50,000 people who live from farming, selling wood or doing old jobs.
01:53Only 11% of the homes here have a toilet.
01:57And there are no public toilets at all.
02:00So it is normal for people to head out into the nature instead.
02:04Some even feel that it's more hygienic.
02:12The toilets are not clean.
02:17Sometimes there are even margos in them.
02:22It makes me feel like vomiting.
02:27So I would rather go out into the bush.
02:33But answering nature's call in nature has led to sickness.
02:37So you can imagine the fly going around.
02:40How can I identify the fly that went and sat on a ship?
02:43It might get over to my house, sneak into my kitchen and still sit on my food.
02:48Funsi's health center offers hard facts to back up her case.
02:53Josep Bakambo is treating his third typhoid patient today.
02:57Seven out of ten typhoid cases here are caused by illness linked to poor hygiene.
03:03Each year, there's an increase in the numbers.
03:06And it's even overwhelmed the stars.
03:09This one is due to the defecation around and the trophies just everywhere.
03:18Disease, sickness, that leads to death.
03:23And who are the ones suffering?
03:25Mostly the young ones.
03:26Because if we, the adults, do nothing about it and we keep poisoning the environment,
03:31the little children don't know.
03:32So, on stage, Wiela radioses the energy of a woman who can't usher in change fast enough.
03:40Let's pick up the pace.
03:42Wiela's next challenge, waste.
03:45Here is the problem and solution, Wiela's time.
03:48Many residents in Funsi simply dump their trash in the countryside despite the possibility
03:55of fines or even jail time.
03:59Containers for trash provided by the authorities aren't being used enough.
04:03People say they are too far away.
04:07You won't believe that even along the road, you find people dumping.
04:11And the time they dump, you will not see them to talk to them.
04:16While others dump their trash secretly, Wiela is cleaning up.
04:20On Facebook, she has a clear message for those who are all talk and no action.
04:26Please, if you want to talk about the rubbish, pick up your broom and talk to the rubbish and clean
04:30it, okay?
04:32These residents have heeded her call.
04:34They are cleaning up one of the most littered parts of the town.
04:40Some of the community members in Funsi right here, they came out to help so that we can clean.
04:46But we are going to make it a constant clean up every weekend or every end of the month.
04:59Clock drainage channels are also being cleared out.
05:03We have taken it up that we help to clean the whole environment and the entire community as well.
05:15The local town elders have long sat on their sidelines waiting for someone else to initiate change.
05:23Government officials cannot come together to develop all of this.
05:28But if we have a person like this, she has a lot of friends who also like her.
05:36We know our development can come through her.
05:40And without Wiyala, this project will never come about either.
05:44It's a solar-powered drip irrigation system.
05:47After performing a concert at the German embassy, she persuaded the ambassador to secure the funding.
05:53But today, the spotlight is not on the big star, but on local women.
05:58Using land provided by the town, they plan to grow vegetables for the dry season, okra, tomatoes, and eggplants.
06:06Until now, many of them produced charcoal illegally just to make ends meet,
06:11but that helped drive climate change in the region.
06:14The new field is an opportunity.
06:16Now we will get decent businesses.
06:19I used to sell wood, which wasn't something I liked doing.
06:23Now I plan to start a porridge business.
06:26I hope the garden can help me to raise the money.
06:30Progress is also being made on the toilet front.
06:33Well, maybe.
06:34We will visit a new building that is still under construction.
06:38Well, it looks like a bathroom, but they must fix the toilet.
06:42Yes.
06:43The owner assures her that is part of the plan.
06:46Uh-huh.
06:47Wow.
06:49Since the information came that we need to put toilets in our homes, we have to embrace it.
06:55And we see that it's important too.
06:58It means if you need to go to the toilet at night, it will no longer be scary.
07:03There's also more privacy, especially for us women.
07:12In the evening, Weala's mission continues.
07:15She wants to reach everyone.
07:17With her local theater group, she's staging a play about litter and openification.
07:23One of the characters gets stomach problems after eating contaminated porridge.
07:28For the audience, it's a real eye-opener.
07:33In this community, it is common to see people selling food right next to a field.
07:41This drama shows us the consequences of that behavior.
07:50The drama is speaking directly to the people with their own language that we understand,
07:56exhibiting the same habit.
07:58Because we live here, we know how we are, we know how we think, mentality, indiscipline.
08:03So we are playing back our own characters and attitude.
08:07That way the message goes quicker and we will all change.
08:11From the world stage back to her town of Bev, Weala's message is clear.
08:19Real change begins at home.
08:21Sometimes, just one voice can awaken an entire community.
08:27It is truly inspiring to discover that change can actually begin from an individual like Weala Infunsi.
08:35Following it around, I got to realize that she has become a signature in her community.
08:40People are obeying to her instructions, they are listening to her words and her advocacy, that she uses many diverse
08:49platforms to engage through music, through radio and through words and conversations.
08:57The people here are actually now changing positively.
09:01People are accepting that the responsibility of sanitation rests on their shoulders.
09:08They are cleaning their homes, they are storing toilets in their homes, and they are beginning to do this regularly
09:15than before.
09:16The change in Funsi may appear incremental, but this works for communities like that compared to starting transformation,
09:24which mostly does not withstand the test of time.
09:34The show is about to begin.
09:37A well-known artist and a poetry slammer have chosen an old minibus at an auto repair shop as their
09:43impromptu stage in Mali's capital, Bamako.
09:47The unsuspecting audience, a few guys sat around.
09:52The second artist first takes his time to assemble his tools for his next masterpiece.
10:01I've had a passion for drawing and painting ever since I was a child.
10:09When I was little, I dreamed of seeing myself in lots of bright, bold colours.
10:21Now he's in his mid-forties, and Mali itself has changed.
10:28Forests have been cut down. Temperatures are rising. The environment increasingly polluted, partly through emissions from traffic.
10:36The so-called Sot-Rama buses, with their advertisements, are one of Bamako's defining features.
10:42Konate is famous for his colourful murals. Here, the left side of the tree shows what we're doing wrong.
10:49Deforestation with axes and chainsaws. On the right, what trees do for us. They absorb CO2 from car and factory
10:57emissions, purifying the air.
10:59These images have helped me understand a lot about climate change. And we are the generation that really has to
11:06deal with this. I invite you to face up to climate change.
11:13Next up, the poetry slammer.
11:15From day to night, nature pleurs the bad habits of humans, insensitive to its protection against the devastation floods.
11:26But nothing is lost. The hope remains for a sane environment.
11:33We are the people who build this environment. And, in spite of our own concessions, we have to look at
11:40its own property.
11:42If we all use public transport, it will improve things. Everyone should leave their motorcycle or car at home and
11:50choose public transport instead. That's my main goal with this work.
11:55And it's definitely catching the attention of the younger generation.
12:00Then the minibus heads back into the city traffic with its powerful appeal to protect the environment.
12:09How much does it cost in your city to breathe fresh air?
12:14Now, it sounds crazy, but in here, in Lagos, you have to pay.
12:18What do you mean I have to pay 1,000 euro just to sit in a park in Lagos?
12:22But I notice everyone else pays and goes about it like it's normal.
12:25Honestly, I get it. Without money, these parks won't be safe and spotless for you.
12:29And sure, 1,000 euro doesn't sound like much, but think about it.
12:331,000 euro twice a week is 8,000 euro a month. That's 10% of the minimum wage just
12:39to breathe fresh air.
12:40I wouldn't mind if there were free options, but there aren't.
12:42If you want to enjoy a park in Lagos, Spain is the only way.
12:46Even if you can afford it, you only get to use them if you live close to where they are
12:49located.
12:50Because these parks are concentrated in certain areas.
12:53The crowded areas that need them the most often have nothing.
12:56So tell me, how can we make these spaces available to everyone regardless of what you earn
13:00or whether you live on the mainland or on the island? Toodles!
13:04Mmm, the smell hits you almost instantly.
13:10Soothing, refreshing, almost medical.
13:13And it comes from these trees.
13:16Now, they've been planted widely across Africa.
13:20They're called eucalyptus.
13:22It was introduced in the 19th century for many reasons.
13:27This little beauty is a money spinner.
13:30Grown for its timber, construction, paper, firewood, or for its flowers that attract bees.
13:39So farmers can earn extra income.
13:43For example, in Kenya, Ethiopia, or South Africa.
13:47But there's a flip side.
13:50Eucalyptus is a water guzzler.
13:53Experts have always warned against it.
13:56But why?
13:57The Spanish region of Galicia might have some answers.
14:02Eucalyptus is one of the world's fastest growing trees.
14:05It's predictable, dependable, and most importantly, highly profitable.
14:10The management is simple.
14:12So, you plant it, and then you have little work to do.
14:18Just mainly clearing the undergrowth.
14:21And then waiting 12, 15, 20 years, and then you harvest it.
14:26And you begin again the cycle.
14:28Joan Ramon Gallastegui-Octeiro is vice president of the Galician Forest Association,
14:33which represents tens of thousands of forest owners.
14:36Since the 1970s, many Galicians flocked to plant eucalyptus with the promise of future riches.
14:41In 2024, it generated 167 million euros in the region.
14:47That drive for profit has been repeated worldwide.
14:50The tree is used to produce stuff like paper, clothes, and furniture.
14:54But there's a huge cost to it as well.
14:57Eucalyptus helps fires burn faster, hotter, and further than ever before.
15:03So, eucalypts and eucalypt forests are clearly one of the more flammable forests that we have in the world.
15:10Tim Curran studies eucalyptus and plant flammability in New Zealand.
15:14Many of the traits that they have lead to promoting a fire.
15:19The eucalyptus oils are highly flammable.
15:23The eucalyptus bark is also pretty distinctive.
15:27It's very thick, it's very fibrous.
15:29And when this sets fire, it goes off.
15:31Eucalypts produce burning embers, and they're quite famous for doing that.
15:36It's usually from their bark.
15:38And these burning embers can get carried many kilometres ahead of the fire front on the wind.
15:45And that starts new fires, for instance, on buildings.
15:49The next issue, it grows back super quickly after fires.
15:54Eucalypts have expanded beyond the original plantation borders.
16:00Joaquim Sander Silva has studied the invasive qualities of eucalyptus in Portugal, particularly how they act after a fire.
16:07It can grow three times faster than the native plants.
16:12So it easily takes over the whole ecosystem.
16:16That can create a vicious cycle.
16:18Because eucalyptus burns so easily, fires can spread more quickly, creating large empty spaces in the forest.
16:25The perfect environment for more eucalyptus to grow over native species such as oak and chestnut.
16:30In Galicia, that cycle is becoming more and more apparent.
16:37The tree now covers almost 30% of all forests here.
16:41And from a bird's eye view, that reality becomes clear.
16:45The question now is, how do you even begin to fix this?
16:52Forest management is the buzzword in Galicia.
16:55Choan Evans-Pym leads a group of volunteers which is removing eucalyptus in a bid to promote a more diverse,
17:02safer landscape.
17:04So this is an area that was affected by a very large fire in 2006.
17:09All the woodlands around the village burnt down.
17:12It was mostly pine at the time.
17:14And after that, it became invaded with eucalyptus.
17:18In 2016, there was another one.
17:20And really, that was the tipping point in this community.
17:24We decided we had to do something.
17:26The de-eucalyptus brigades have since grown from 50 to 1,500 volunteers who operate all over Galicia.
17:34Today, we have people from eight to 80, really.
17:39And it's important to also create spaces where people come.
17:44And regardless of their skills, their physical shape, their age, they can come and do something.
17:49There's people doing all sorts of jobs here today.
17:51All are important.
17:53And it's, yeah, it's a way of everybody feeling and understanding and seeing they can do their bits.
17:59Eucalyptus in Galicia is a convoluted tale of industry power, politics and ineffective policy.
18:07In 1992, the Galician Regional Government released a forestry plan, which projected eucalyptus would reach 250,000 hectares by 2030.
18:16That number has been far exceeded.
18:19It's now around half a million hectares, which is a massive amount of land.
18:24And of course, this is happening both because of plantations, many of these plantations being illegal,
18:31but also because of land abandonment, because of forest fires, because of the invasive nature of the species.
18:38So it's a mix of all these that has led to this result.
18:41The government took 30 years to revise its forestry plan.
18:45In 2021, it introduced a moratorium which prohibits new eucalyptus plantations.
18:50But illegal plots have still popped up, and eucalyptus numbers have increased again.
18:55I mean, Portugal lived the experience a few years ago.
18:58200 people died, burnt in their cars.
19:01We would really hope we don't have to get there for real change in terms of applying existing laws, improving
19:08other laws, to be really taken seriously.
19:11The Galician government also does not recognize eucalyptus as invasive, despite recommendations from a scientific committee set up by the
19:20national government.
19:21Rather than banning things, we should first have a forest management plan.
19:26We believe forests should have the species diversity they're meant to have, because everything adds value.
19:31We believe forests should have the species.
19:33After decades of expansion, poor enforcement, and growing fire risk, everyone is playing catch-up to try and rectify the
19:41problem.
19:42In Galicia, community groups are trying to get on the front foot.
19:46We've been eliminating eucalyptus from this whole area, and allowing native trees to take that space.
19:55So it kind of creates a green firebreak in the north-eastern side of our community, which is the most
20:02exposed to fire.
20:04And eventually, we're aiming to have a land which manages itself.
20:10It's a simple idea, restore balance to the landscape.
20:14But until that happens, Galicia stands as a warning to the rest of the world about what can go wrong
20:19when planting a foreign species.
20:21From talking to people on the ground, you do get a sense that opinions are starting to change.
20:27I think with older generations, there was this kind of sense that eucalyptus equates progress.
20:36And that is no longer the case with younger people.
20:40They don't see it. They see it more as a problem.
20:42And they're willing to make the change.
20:44It may be too late to eradicate eucalyptus completely, but the key now is keeping it in check.
20:54Okay, so today we've had environmental action on stage and on minibuses.
21:04But the message can also be spread from a pupit.
21:09When you see the discarded bottles, stop and pick them up and put them in one of the many trash
21:15containers you see everywhere.
21:17And then you will be blessed by God.
21:22This message goes down well here.
21:24Pastor Ferdinand Masabarikiza stresses to his congregation that loving God's creation also involves protecting them.
21:31Here at the Rehoboth Holy Church in Burundi, environmental protection is a pivotal and passionate issue.
21:41The teachings we're hearing in the church right now have made us realize that protecting the environment is our duty
21:48for every one of us.
21:51Protecting the planet means that we're also taking care of our own health.
21:59Here in Burundi, poor waste management has been posing a growing threat to the environment and to the population in
22:06the shape of social and health-related problems.
22:11Louisa Irankunda used to collect charcoal to sell for a modest amount of money.
22:17With the help of a church-affiliated NGO, she switched to a far lighter recyclable material, plastic bottles.
22:23A local company buys them and pays collectors in cash.
22:27The materials are then resold to recycling facilities in Burundi.
22:33I thank God that I'm able to feed my children.
22:37Before, I only came here to collect charcoal and didn't know about the bottles.
22:44Now I earn money collecting bottles.
22:46I can carry around 20 kilos of them.
22:51Many people collect up to 50 kilos of refuse a day, which earns them a sizable amount of money.
22:59With no functioning waste collection system, most trash ends up in canals and rivers,
23:04and eventually in Lake Tanyanika, the source of 90% of bunjuburas drinking water.
23:12Currently, the only effective way to dispose of the bottles and other plastic items
23:16is to collect the waste and feed it back into the local economy.
23:20Which is why the congregation of the Rioboth Holy Church have organized a beach clean-up today.
23:30The pastor explained what we can do to protect the environment, the rivers, and the lake,
23:35which you can see behind me.
23:37We're now doing what we can to remove everything that's polluting the lake.
23:44The volunteers for the cleanup are joined by Silas Bukumi, director of Nezerua Investment Group.
23:50He explains how microplastics in the lake enter local people's bodies via the fish caught here.
23:56And that's another reason why fisher Samuel Manirakiza is glad to be taking part.
24:02It's been great to join the other people here and be involved in the cleanup.
24:06I've been working here for years and feel the initiative was really necessary.
24:10We're given instructions on how to dispose of the bottles we collect, and we earn money.
24:17That's down to circular economy initiatives such as the Nezerua Investment Group.
24:21From plastics to paper and cardboard, the company ensures that waste generated in Bunjumbura
24:27is turned back into valuable raw materials.
24:34We're working together with churches, cooperatives, and local associations
24:39because it enables us to reach a significant share of the population.
24:44And Christians take action when their priest tells them to.
24:51Back at the Rehoboth Holy Church, Pastor Ferdinand Mazabarekiza continues to passionately preach
24:57the spiritual value of caring for the environment.
25:03Faith without action is meaningless.
25:05No one should claim to pray if they don't actually do anything.
25:09The word of the Lord clearly teaches us that faith without works is dead.
25:18The church in the Burundian capital sees recycling as a mission,
25:22a message that has been embraced by its congregation while also inspiring believers
25:26to create new opportunities in the community.
25:32Do you have more ideas on how to spread the word about protecting our environment?
25:37You can start by sharing our Echo Drop newsletter.
25:40Take a look.
25:42Or write to us with your ideas.
25:45See you next time.
25:47I'll talk to you next time.
25:49I'll talk to you next time.
25:58Bye bye.ute