Original subtitles

We have parents starving to feed their children.

WOMAN: Enough is enough.

Salmon farming is a fucking environmental catastrophe.

If we don't stand together, we cannot have this country we want.

ALL: Enough is enough.

NARRATOR: In today's world, everybody wants their voice to be heard.

Do not think this will not affect you.

NARRATOR: But when the people in power don't listen...

The lies that are being put out now is purely out of hatred.

NARRATOR: ...you need to come together to make real change.

So don't walk past here with your noses up.

NARRATOR: In this global series,

we will follow a team of international activists.

We have to speak out. You have to use your voice.

You have to be courageous, and you have to be brave.

Nobody should be abandoned to die.

[speaking Spanish]

We can save many lives if we act

not through hatred, violence or division.

NARRATOR: These activists will inspire and revolutionize

the work of local campaigners...

Now we face a threat-- extinction

of everything we know and love.

NARRATOR: ...who are struggling to make a difference in their own communities.

It is Black people who are being murdered

by a system that doesn't care enough about them.

Y'all ready? Y'all ready?

NARRATOR: As they work together

to see if they can shine a light on injustice

and transform their lives for good.

This work is, like, super important.

It's really life or death, so, good luck.

Stand up, fight back!

NARRATOR: In this episode, we explore the global water crisis.

As the world's population increases exponentially,

so does the problem.

MAN: This is not water that humans should depend on.

NARRATOR: By 2025, half the world's population

will be living in water poverty.

Ghana is just one of the many countries in the midst of this crisis.

His son literally died because of water contamination.

NARRATOR: Here, one man is battling to bring clean water

to one of its most neglected regions.

At first, water is the--

NARRATOR: And turn the tide...

MAN: Plastic! Plastic!

NARRATOR: ...on a dire plastic problem

made worse by the crisis.

TRINICE: This is impacting not only their way of survival,

but their actual being.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Thanks to its rich natural resources,

Ghana has one of the fastest growing economies in Africa.

But in the midst of an economic and population boom,

its infrastructure is struggling to keep up.

As a result, one in ten Ghanaians

spends more than 30 minutes a day simply getting clean water.

My name is Joseph [indistinct]. I'm a proud Ghanaian.

People would have to travel all the way

for about two, three kilometers to come and fetch water here

in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening.

So we are privileged to have this across the road.

Yeah.

When I was growing up, access to water was really a challenge.

As a child, I have to walk several miles

just in search of water,

and I have to wake up very early in the morning.

And then by the time you return home,

you reporting to school very late.

I realized that this situation was crossing my education.

And whenever I see people wasting water,

I realize that they have not been in the situation I found myself.

And we have, you know, stagnant waters in the gutter.

What happened? Who can tell me?

NARRATOR: To attempt to change the status quo,

Joseph dedicates his life to educating the younger generation

about issues around water poverty.

I am working to ensure that deprived people in Ghana

have access to water.

It's a basic human right which everybody should be entitled to.

NARRATOR: Only 36% of the country

has access to safely managed water.

It's a problem that disproportionately affects people

in rural communities.

[interviewer] Is this the place that your people fetch water?

JOSEPH: Yes.

[interviewer] Wow.

Not safe for consumption,

not safe for even animals.

This is not a water that humans should depend on.

NARRATOR: In areas where there is limited infrastructure,

Joseph tries to raise money to drill mechanical wells

known as boreholes to provide fresh drinking water.

JOSEPH: Morning.

I'm the founder of Young Visionary Leaders Ghana.

I founded this organization in 2015.

We just put in measures in place to ensure that we get more supports.

Normally, it takes two years

to raise fund for one borehole.

We need people who can actually help us.

We need help from people who support the-- the vision

of ensuring that people have access to water.

♪♪

NARRATOR: To help Joseph raise awareness of his work,

Trinice McNally from the Changemakers team

has been drafted in to collaborate with him.

[audience cheering]

I'm an educator and organizer, and also a culture worker.

Our work is at the intersection of education,

mobilizing folks, teaching and political education.

NARRATOR: Before she meets Joseph for the first time...

- Good morning. Hey, y'all. - Hi, Trinice.

NARRATOR: ...Trinice wants to check in with the other Changemakers.

As you all know that a lot of my ancestry is actually, like, Ghanaian.

So it's-- it's truly a homecoming.

FLAVIA: It's going to be a very powerful experience,

and it's also going to be very challenging

because you will be, like, in this middle avenue

of being part of that place,

but also trying to bring something new in order to help.

So please take care of your emotions also.

♪♪

- Hi. Hi. - JOSEPH: Hi.

- Are you Joseph? In the flesh. - Yes, I'm Joseph. Yes.

- I'm Joseph. Nice meeting you. - Thanks for having me.

I'm so-- Good to meet everyone.

Hi, nice to meet you.

- I'm loving it. Feels good in here. - Yeah. Yeah.

I'm really excited to be here. I've been reading all about your work.

And I'm just here to learn and to support

and figure out, like, how we can team up and I can help.

All right.

So, so far, we've been able to donate water

- to about five communities in Ghana. - Wow.

And we think that access to portable water is a human right.

- TRINICE: Everyone should have access. - Everybody should have access.

But then to also go further, getting policymakers on board,

campaigning for what is due them,

I think we share common in our priorities,

- something that we can work on as a team. - Absolutely.

And then making sure that people who do not have voice,

- now they have voice. - TRINICE: Yeah, they're sensors. Yeah.

I'm really excited for us to get started.

JOSEPH: I'm so much happy to meet Trinice.

We share similar passion.

So it's going to be an opportunity where we can share knowledge

about certain things that she's doing that is working for her.

TRINICE: I think Joseph has a huge responsibility.

He has to build more awareness politically

about what's happening and what the impact is,

and I hope that someone is gonna start to take it seriously.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Trinice will spend time working with Joseph

on the ground exploring water poverty.

Today they're heading out of the capital Accra

and into rural Ghana.

What would you say the challenges are

in terms of everyday people getting access to water here in Ghana?

Some communities that are outside Greater Accra,

they don't have the infrastructure when it comes access

- to potable water. - TRINICE: Okay.

And most of these people would have to depend on rivers,

streams, stagnant waters for-- for survival on daily basis.

There's a need to work on the infrastructure.

It's serious challenge that we are facing as a nation.

NARRATOR: For centuries, Ghana has attracted outside powers

who have plundered its natural riches.

Under colonial rule, its people were also stolen from the land

and brutalized by the slave trade.

The colonial powers built infrastructure

solely to serve their ruling interests,

sowing the seeds of a rich-poor divide.

This divide has deepened in the 70 years

since Ghana finally broke free from British rule.

JOSEPH: Colonialism affected us as a country.

Looking at where we were and where we are today,

there has been a lot of improvements,

but we still lack access to some basic amenities

such as road networks,

quality healthcare, quality education.

I think we have a long way to go.

NARRATOR: Joseph is taking Trinice to a village in Ketu South,

a region of Ghana where much of his work is based.

-Thank you. -Yeah. You're welcome.

NARRATOR: Until recently, many of the people of Hatsukope

relied on contaminated water from open wells, rivers and lakes.

Now they have a continuous supply of fresh water,

thanks to Joseph's activism.

His work helped provide a mechanized borehole,

which uses an electric pump to extract clean water

from 80 meters below ground level.

This system will support about 6,000.

Four communities are supposed to benefit from this system.

- Okay, everyone comes here. - Yes, everyone comes here.

Most especially in the morning,

you see a lot of people here fetching water.

We are just happy that people are benefiting from this.

Yeah. So we need more and more and more and more.

BOTH: More and more and more.

- In outer communities. - Everywhere.

♪♪

JOSEPH: Traditionally in Ghana, when you have a special guest,

anybody who comes into your house, you're supposed to fest

or share that person the water...

telling the person that you have welcomed the person to your home.

Water in our tradition means unity and friendship.

It also means life.

[all applauding]

[speaking native language]

Do you have any traditional types of wisdom

that you can share with us

about how we be in wise relationship with the land?

Thank you for welcoming me into your community.

I pray that water will just be the start

of all the good things for you and your family.

[all applauding]

TRINICE: Rolling up to Hatsukope was really beautiful.

I really appreciated the libation.

Being welcomed with the drums felt like I was home.

We start everything off with honor and homage.

And what is that relationship to? Water.

'Cause you can't do anything without water.

♪♪

NARRATOR: The global water crisis is about to hit breaking point.

Experts predict that in as little as seven years,

we'll have 40% less water than we need.

This could directly lead to the displacement

of 700 million people...

with one in every four children living in water poverty.

In Ghana, the only fail-safe option for clean drinking water

is to buy it in plastic bottles and sachets.

As a result, the nation produces

more than 1,000,000 tons of plastic waste each year.

Due to the country's limited infrastructure,

less than 10% is recycled.

This has led to a catastrophic plastic pollution problem.

JOSEPH: Ghanaians' mentality when it comes to plastic pollution

is actually very, very bad.

They don't think about the consequences of plastic pollution,

how it affects all of us.

People just throw it away

wherever they think is convenient for them.

NARRATOR: Nowhere is the problem more visible

than on parts of Ghana's 335-mile-long coastline.

♪♪

To find out more, Joseph has sent Trinice

to meet Nii, a local fisherman.

- Hello. - Hi.

Hi. I'm Trinice. Nice to meet you.

NARRATOR: His community is directly affected

by the country's plastic crisis.

TRINICE: Oh, my gosh.

This is disgusting.

The amount of pollution and the amount of plastic

is really devastating.

Most of the people that we see here are fishermen,

so I'm sure that this is impacting not only their way of survival, right,

but their actual being.

NARRATOR: Nii wants to show Trinice

exactly how the problem affects his livelihood.

Okay.

[speaking native language]

[singing in native language]

NII: Plastics.

- TRINICE: You can see it. - NII: Trinice, plastics, plastics!

- TRINICE: No fish. No fish. - As I tell you, plastics.

- No fish. Plastics. - TRINICE: No fish.

NII: Instead of fish, it's plastics!

Instead of fish, it's plastics!

To come out every day, to spend money on supplies

and never find fish.

More plastics coming. More plastics.

- Fish is plastics! - TRINICE: It's just coming up.

FISHERMAN: [indistinct] more plastic again.

TRINICE: Oh, my gosh.

So, it's not sustaining a family how it used to.

How long has this been happening?

TRINICE: It's killing us.

NARRATOR: For hundreds of years,

fishing has been the lifeblood of the people of Jamestown.

Today, Nii hardly makes enough money to feed his family,

To see the ways that not only are people's careers

and their traditions being decimated,

but this is what we're doing to the ocean, you know?

- This is what we're doing to the earth. - NII: Plastics!

So being here is really...

I don't even have the words.

It's just really heartbreaking.

NARRATOR: It's predicted, that if this rate of pollution continues,

by 2050, the ocean will contain more plastic than fish.

NII:

Yes.

TRINICE: Oh, my gosh.

♪♪

NARRATOR: The combined effect of Ghana's rapid population growth

has caused rapid urbanization.

Korle Lagoon is home to tens of thousands of people.

It also happens to be one of the most polluted bodies of water on earth.

TRINICE: Yes.

TRINICE: Where are you gonna put it?

So, where's your government?

TRINICE: Do your elected officials--

Do they come and talk to local people?

Only at elections time.

- You're right, you're right. - TRINICE: Before election time.

You don't see them again till the next election.

Yeah. They all come to you.

Ah!

When people talk about Ghana, they love to talk about

- how advanced Ghana is. - Yeah, you're right.

Like, economically, they like to talk about

- how advanced Ghana is politically. - Yeah.

- But that's for the rich. - Yes, please. Yes, please.

That's not for everyday people.

How could people's backyard just be full of waste

and no one do anything about it?

Right, 'cause they have [indistinct].

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yes. I'm your people. Yes. Yeah.

Yes. Yes.

We're gonna share it. I'm gonna share it.

And they're gonna know.

NARRATOR: The prolific plastic waste isn't just restricted to the beaches.

It also clogs the country's drains and gutters,

causing a buildup of stagnant water.

This in turn leads to disease...

and children are particularly at risk.

In Ghana, 76% of households

are exposed to drinking water containing fecal matter.

And nearly 2,000 under-fives will die each year from diarrhea

caused by poor sanitation.

JOSEPH: We're going to meet a man called Mr. Dadulu.

- Mr. Dadulu. - Who-- Yes.

- Okay. - Who is a native of this community.

Okay, so he's a from here.

Yeah, he's from here, and he will share more of the challenges

that this community is facing.

NARRATOR: Today, Joseph is introducing Trinice

to a man who's paid the ultimate price

for dirty drinking water.

JOSEPH: Good afternoon, Mr. Dadulu.

Hi, nice to meet you.

- I'm Trinice. It's good to meet you. - Thank you.

NARRATOR: Mr. Dadulu is from a long line of farmers

who have been living on this land for over a hundred years.

JOSEPH: Now we are here in Dadulu's house.

NARRATOR: Around 20% of Ghanaians rely on rainwater

for drinking and household use.

JOSEPH: This water...

- [speaking other language] - TRINICE: Okay.

JOSEPH:

- TRINICE: Like a storage. - JOSEPH: Yeah, a storage.

There is a war for the water.

- TRINICE: They come here for-- - [speaking other language]

JOSEPH: Yeah, so what they do is...

- TRINICE: At the bottom. Yeah. - JOSEPH: Yes.

- TRINICE: And then boil it. - [man speaking other language]

JOSEPH. So, sometimes they boil it,

- but sometimes-- - TRINICE: You don't boil it.

NARRATOR: When rainwater is scarce, Mr. Dadulu's family

must find an alternative source of water.

[Dadulu speaking in other language]

Contaminating it.

Contaminates the water, they drink from the water,

- they step into the water that people-- - Have to drink.

Exactly, have to drink and then defecate into the water.

JOSEPH It was as a result

- of the water that they-- yeah. - Water contamination.

Because they are kids,

they don't know whether the water should be treated before they drink it.

So, last year, what happened was...

My son was actually drinking it while they are fetching it.

JOSEPH: And because of how far the hospital was...

Please let him know that I'm really, like,

devastatingly sorry to hear that.

Uh...

JOSEPH: If there were to be a health facility

that is closer to this place,

they would have been able to rescue the child from,

you know, dying immediately.

DADULU:

JOSEPH: So, that was the situation.

As soon as possible.

[speaking other language]

[speaking other language]

♪♪

I see people dying because they have to drink

contaminated water from streams, rivers.

It is very critical for everybody to have access to potable water.

NARRATOR: Mr. Dadulu lives in what was once a rural area.

It's now a bustling town that's continuing to grow.

This street was just a small road

with bushes, yeah, left and right.

Now we have, you know, houses,

we have churches, we have shops.

This place is developing day in, day out.

NARRATOR: Mining in this region has not only increased the population,

it's draining the local water supply and other resources.

- JOSEPH: It's a very busy town. - TRINICE: Yeah.

But there are so many challenges that the local government facing

in order to ensure that people have access

to some social amenities.

We have the Ketu South Hospital.

The only hospital that we have in the whole Ketu South.

Just imagine, we have communities that are far away from here

and when something happened, by the time they get to the hospital...

- TRINICE: They're not well. - ...it's too late.

And these people are dying in the out over there

without no action being taken.

There are lots of challenges that they are facing

when it comes to, you know, social amenities.

- Yeah. Basic shit. Talking about water. - JOSEPH: Yeah.

- TRINICE: Hospital. - Health.

TRINICE: Thanks for sharing the challenges.

I have a better, like, idea of what's happening.

Mr. Dadulu's community is already an impoverished,

vulnerable community.

Learning about his son who literally died a few feet from where we were sitting

because of water contamination.

Children shouldn't have to know how to decipher

what water is good and what water is not.

They should be able to drink water when they're outside.

And that's what he should have been able to do.

And because he did, he's not here.

♪♪

NARRATOR: It's not just disease

that makes children vulnerable to water poverty.

In many homes across Africa,

they are the ones responsible for collecting the household water.

- TRINICE: Hi, Sylvia. - SYLVIA: Hi.

NARRATOR: Local translator and journalist, Sylvia,

has offered to take Trinice on one of the daily water gathering trips.

TRINICE: Is it typically just kids?

SYLVIA: The oldest person

you see among them is 13 or 15.

They're leading the young ones to go.

NARRATOR: One of the teenagers in the group is Abigail.

She's been fetching water on a daily basis

since she was nine years old.

SYLVIA:

Three times. [indistinct]. Okay.

ABIGAIL:

SYLVIA:

So, this is the water they fetched for bathing,

washing, and doing other house chores,

except drinking because it's not pure for drinking.

NARRATOR: It's just after 7:30 a.m.,

and for many in the group, this is their second journey of the day.

TRINICE: So, imagine taking this trek early in the morning

when you probably can't see.

Could also be potentially scary

'cause you can't see what's, you know, beneath the bushes.

NARRATOR: After a two-mile trek,

the children finally locate some rainwater.

ABIGAIL:

NARRATOR: Abigail walks roughly six miles a day

in search of enough water

for just one day's household chores.

Drinking water will need to be sourced elsewhere.

- So, right now the water is not clear. - Right.

So, when they get back,

you have to put it down for some time

- to settle. - TRINICE: Mm-hmm.

- And then they will boil it. - SYLVIA: They boil it.

NARRATOR: Thanks to the seasonal rains, the children have been lucky today.

[children laughing]

During the dry season, when rainwater deposits have dried up,

they will have to walk even further

or go home empty handed.

BOY: [indistinct]

♪♪

TRINICE: If this is a good workout for me...

then it's a strenuous...

task on your body for them.

This is more work than what the average person is doing...

- SYLVIA: Yeah, - ...at a job 9:00 to 5:00.

This is more work than-- Two, three times more than that.

And there's no payment.

Meeting really sweet young people like Abigail

made me really inspired.

They are leading the charge to get water in their community every day.

That's why I'm, like, honored to be here

because I get to learn more about what's happening,

not just what they tell us on TV,

because they want us to feel sorry.

You know, that's what they do.

They create this, like, sad depiction of, like, life.

So, it's, like, "Oh, pity is me."

And no one here is asking for pity.

People are just asking for what they deserve.

Everyone in Ghana understands

how much water affects their entire existence.

If we don't have water, we can't do anything.

♪♪

I want people in Ghana to ask more questions.

I want them to think critically

about why things exist in a way they do.

The work that Joseph is doing is really crucial work,

and it's literally life or death.

NARRATOR: Having seen firsthand

the struggles that Ghanaians are facing...

- TRINICE. Hi! - FLAVIA: Hello!

...Trinice wants to talk to the Changemakers team

to work out how best to help Joseph.

So, what's happening in Ghana outside of Accra,

there's no piping system, right?

There's no draining system.

Things of that nature that connect to a water resource

simply don't exist.

So, not only do people need drinking water,

but folks need water to do household chores.

It's cleaning their vegetables, right?

It's bathing, it is washing your clothes.

At the root of this water crisis

people need actual infrastructure.

Listening to that

just really threw into sharp relief,

the difference and--

or the privilege that I've had.

I mean, I grew up in Ireland,

there was never a shortage of water,

in fact, there might have been too much of it.

And I've never once thought about that as a worry, as a concern.

So, people are having to buy bottles of water

and drinking water out of a plastic bottle

then brings in the issue of plastic pollution.

I've noticed, just driving around, I haven't seen a garbage can,

and people don't actually have access

to the tools they need to recycle.

Yeah, it's, like, tricky dilemma.

You provide safe water, which is bottle,

and you also, uh,

are collaborating with the pollution problem.

And it's a loop that reinforces the problem.

TRINICE: Yes, I would agree.

So, going to Jamestown,

I met with the guy, name is Nii.

And he took me down to the beach.

Everything is covered in at least four inches in plastic.

People are being forced, right,

to try and go fish, and they're having to fight.

He's a seventh generation fisherman

who catches no fish.

Like, literally, it was just plastics.

It really opened up my world in a different way...

and is helping me to see my world differently, right?

Because I wouldn't have called myself a climate justice activist before.

But everybody better become climate justice activists

because literally the world is falling apart.

Yeah.

It's just difficult because it's not like just TV for us.

So I'm just, like, my family lives there.

So I'm just, like, yeah, it's just a-- it's just...

Yeah, it's pretty horrific actually.

What Joseph is doing,

in terms of trying to eradicate the issue around the water crisis

is, like, a multipronged strategy.

And one of the most important parts of his strategy

is providing political education to children and youth

because they understand this issue better than anyone, right?

Because they're currently right in the belly of that beast.

So I was wondering, with your expertise,

if you had any ideas about how we could get the kids

more engaged and involved.

If you want to get kids engaged,

you need to involve the things that they care about.

I mean, and they love, of course,

to do arts and sing and dance and they love colors.

So you can approach them in a way that they do not

only know the problem, but feel the problem,

and most of all,

feel that they can be part of the solution.

NARRATOR: Inspired by the call with her fellow Changemakers,

Trinice wants to run their idea past Joseph.

- Hey, everyone. Hi, Joseph. - Hello.

Hi.

I have a really good idea that I wanted to share with you all.

- We're talking about children. - Okay.

So maybe you can lead this teaching at the school.

- JOSEPH: Yeah. -Maybe having some of them

share their stories about what their experiences

with not having access to water has been.

What are they calling for? What do they want to see happen?

How are they being impacted?

Because they're the ones that's going to collect the water.

- Right. So they know better, right? - When it comes to

the vulnerability of their situation children are vulnerable.

- They know first. - Yes, exactly.

- So how's that sound? - Yeah, that's a very good idea.

- Okay, you like it? - Yeah. Yeah, we really like it.

How can they also come up with a lasting solution?

Maybe you can-- I know you're interested in art.

Have you thought about what that could look like?

Maybe some type of, like, art installation

or, like, an artivism where students can participate actively.

Showing up of, you know, banner, like--

- Oh, so like a banner drop? - Yeah, yeah.

JOSEPH: So this is what we are aiming at.

I think this is gonna be really good. I'm loving this. Can I come?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- I'm happy to see you there. - Okay.

NARRATOR: Trinice and Joseph are taking their artivism idea

to a local school in Ketu South.

[singing in other language]

NARRATOR: She's hoping he can connect with the children in a holistic way

to drive home the importance of water preservation

and the dangers of contamination.

[singing in other language]

- JOSEPH: Are you happy to be here? - CHILDREN: Yeah.

Okay. Every living thing, you know, drinks water, isn't it?

Yeah. So that means that you know there is importance of water

in the life of every living thing.

As a citizen of Ghana...

you must know that the future belongs to you.

Hey, You want to paint?

Any message at all?

Anything at all you want to say about water,

you can write it on it.

TRINICE: I enjoyed your lecture style.

I'm hoping that we can build a political education.

Yeah.

This is about how are they progressing, how are they learning.

Excited to see what they're gonna add to it.

Maybe they'll be able to move some of these issues at home.

Yes.

Because they're already making the connections for themselves.

- Exactly. - So, the class professor.

- Yeah, yeah. - [both laugh]

Actually, I can see a lot of words.

"Water is life."

"Water for all Ghana."

The hashtags, you know, the water drop, the taps, the hands.

This is so beautiful and this is communicating

a lot of message to everyone at all who sees this.

Perfect.

So, the kids are having a good time.

I'm having fun. They're making fun of my accent.

What about when you introducing yourself?

Like, "Hi, my name is..."

[kids imitating Trinice] "My name is [indistinct]."

- Oh, your name? Okay. - [all laugh]

They're getting their creative juices on.

They're thinking about the messages they want to write.

People are getting creative using their hands,

using their minds, using other objects.

And yeah, things are great. We're having a good time.

We're using art to tell our story. They have a plan.

JOSEPH: Let's-- uh-huh, let's have it this way.

- Are you ready? - CHILDREN: Yes!

- JOSEPH: Are we ready? - CHILDREN: Yes!

Are we ready? - CHILDREN: Yes!

JOSEPH: Okay.

TRINICE: It was a really enjoyable experience.

Folks are really engaged.

And then also people are, like, being teenagers.

JOSEPH: Stretch it, stretch it.

TRINICE: Joseph is an excellent lecturer.

[children shouting] Water!

- JOSEPH: We need... - [children shouting] Water!

- We need... - Water!

- We need... - Water!

We need...

TRINICE: If a person is engaged, they are forced to think.

So Joseph is also helping to develop a generation of critical thinkers.

And critical thinking is what actually shapes policy.

Critical thinking is what shifts culture.

And I'm hoping to support Joseph

and expanding his reach in education.

[children chanting] We need water!

Water...

[children shouting] Is life!

JOSEPH: Water...

Is life!

JOSEPH: What's water?

[children shouting] It's life!

TRINICE: Joseph's political education efforts with children

will be able to do a lot.

However, they're not gonna improve

the terrain by themselves.

People understand the impact of not having water.

But they're trying to do something about it.

[speaking other language]

NARRATOR: Despite the country's difficulties,

many people across Ghana find resourceful ways to fight back.

- Hi. I'm Trinice. - I'm Amanda.

TRINICE: It's good to meet you.

NARRATOR: To discover more,

Trinice is heading to an area just outside Accra.

I've been noticing that there's less plastic

in the areas that you're working.

Yes.

And they pay you?

So the bigger, the more money.

I collect some in my house.

When I sell it, then I take the money to buy another pure water.

So how long ago did you start collecting?

Oh, It's about six or seven years ago.

- Wow. - Uh-huh.

I realized that if there's more plastic around,

and if we don't try to collect it...

Right. Like clog the drain?

- Yes. - Okay.

It chokes the gutters.

- Yes. - Uh-huh.

And it makes the streets so dirty.

That is how it is.

Yes.

So they try to collect more.

- If you have more, you get more money. - Get more money.

Get more money. Yeah.

So it helps them to help them too.

It helps them.

So do men do it?

- And-- Men? - Yeah.

So it's more women? More women.

More women, mm-hmm.

TRINICE: And what do they do with the plastic when they take it?

AMANDA: They use it to make plastic bowls, chests and tables, many things.

- Okay. So they, like, recycle it? - Yes.

Okay. Okay. And repurpose.

Yes.

So it's not just about the plastic. It's about helping the women too.

Yes, yes.

And helping the earth.

Amanda is a badass organizer.

I'm really inspired by the work that she's leading in her community.

Not only is she organizing women,

but also there's political education, right?

Because people are learning about

the importance of how they can take care of their own community,

-There' no water. -There's no water at all.

- So the children have to walk distance... -Far.

- ...before they get there. - Is it very far to get water here?

Yes, it is far.

So then they don't even have time...

To go to school.

So you don't have time to go to school?

If we are not educated well, we can't do anything.

...maybe to help us.

- To create change. - Yes.

Things probably would have been the same hundreds of years ago,

but I just don't think it would have felt as fatal

as it does now.

And I don't think that's just because the Earth has populated a lot more humans.

I think the issue is we are not in relationship with the land,

and as a result of this not being in a relationship with the land,

we are not in right relationship with each other.

I see this at home in the US, right?

We see this all over the world.

[both speak other language]

- And thank you too. - Thank you.

Thank you so much.

[indistinct] for what you have done.

It matters so much. The work matters so much.

Bye-bye.

NARRATOR: Inspired by what she's learnt on the ground,

Trinice wants to talk to the Changemakers team

to explore what else she can do to help Joseph.

So Joseph is doing incredible work.

And it's happening, really, with a small team.

And even though that work is super important,

unfortunately, we live in a world that if no one knows about your work,

then it's hard to get it to be supported and to be sustained

and make the impact that he really wants to make.

So I've been trying to figure out some ways to help Joseph.

We live in a world where if it's not on the Internet,

it didn't happen, right?

And I have my own qualms about that.

But I think it's really important that more people know about

the work that Joseph is doing.

Maybe it will be possible to try to contact

some high profile--

I don't know, I don't like the word "celebrity"

or influencer or something like that--

but somebody who is important in Ghana

who could back Joseph's work at a public level.

And it would be great for him to be supported also at a cultural level.

This household name needs to be the person that the community is looking up to,

where Joseph can use their profile in a way to advance his work.

I think it's a tried-and-tested method.

You know, they can act as gatekeepers to draw attention to important matters.

It's important that people who have such a platform

feel like they can use it for good.

TRINICE: Social media is good for a lot of things,

but in this case, it's a good tool to mobilize people.

Joseph's social media presence is, I believe,

less than 200 followers.

That's pretty low.

So I'm looking forward to developing a social media strategy

that would not only amplify his presence online,

but will get the word out to build awareness.

How do we get more people to support

and get people to understand the importance of your issue.

Fundraising. I know that you need more.

So maybe, like,

strategies to invite more people into the work.

JOSEPH: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Let's build more awareness. - Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. In your wildest dreams,

who would be some good partners that you would want to work with?

Yeah, so--

Across Ghana, and I guess, across the world too.

[inaudible speaking]

Joseph, he seems really excited about expanding

their social media presence and reach.

So I told him that I would be talking

to someone who is one of Ghana's very own.

NARRATOR: Trinice has managed to secure a meeting

with one of Africa's biggest superstars, actress and model Nikki Samonas.

Sis, you've changed. You've changed because of him.

NARRATOR: Known for her philanthropy, she's also a UN Goodwill Ambassador.

- Hello. - Hi.

- Hi, are you Nikki? - Yes.

I'm Trinice, it's good to meet you.

- Hi, great to meet you. - Are you a hugger?

- [Nikki laughs] - I'm a hugger too. Great.

NARRATOR: With an Instagram following of 1.2 million,

Trinice is hoping she'll lend her voice to Joseph's cause.

I appreciate the work that you're doing,

which is why I'm so excited to talk to you about Joseph.

So he's really interested in how can we support, right.

How can we be in conversation, provide political education,

but also get people excited?

Well, it's a very important thing.

I know that individually most of us

are trying to fix the water drainage system.

And if you don't manage water well,

you're going to go-- you're going to die, so to speak.

Yeah. People are going to continue to die.

But we need the government to amplify--

- The infrastructure. - Yes.

Right. And educate as more people as possible,

because I think if people see you doing it,

well, I've been checking out your social media.

Oh, right.

- I see that you utilize your platform. - Yeah.

Would you be okay with doing an IG live with Joseph,

with him providing a political education,

talking to people about why this is important...

Of course.

...how to recycle, how we can make this change?

- Of course. - All right.

- There. - I found it.

- Perfect. - Following.

There. Boom. Got it.

So now you're following.

And I know you're going to help him get this up.

I have to.

- Let's do it. - I have to.

Joseph, we got you.

TRINICE: Not only are we going to see an increase in his following,

but we are going to see an increase in engagement.

- Hey, Joseph. - Hi, Trinice.

- I'm getting ready to go back home. - Too soon. Thank you so much.

I know I'll see you again, so it's not a goodbye.

One thing I really appreciate about Joseph

is that I think that he's doing his responsibility to protect the Earth.

The more Joseph goes out,

and the more he's able to do this hard work,

the better chance we have to sustain this world.

- All right. Take care. - All right. Bye.]

NARRATOR: Trinice's time in Ghana has come to an end,

but Joseph's work continues.

Today, the village of Pakro is the beneficiary

of Joseph and his partners' work.

After a two-year wait, the community can finally celebrate

the opening of a new borehole.

JOSEPH: Ladies and gentlemen,

there are a lot more of people in Ghana

and what do not have access to potable water.

We need everyone to take action.

That means you and your family, school and community

can make a difference.

NARRATOR: With Joseph's profile now on the rise,

he's trying to raise money for 15 new boreholes across Ghana.

Once we are done with Ghana,

then we will take it up to other African countries.

We are still working towards the dream.

[speaking other language]

Whatever it's going to take me to achieve that dream,

I'm going to do it.

[shouting in other language]

TRINICE: Joseph has used his personal life experience to push himself.

WOMAN: We want to say a big thank you to you.

And I think that's why he's been able to be successful

and that is why his work will grow as well.

What is life if there's no water?

There's no graduation, there's no job, there's no fancy car.

There's none of the things

that motivates people to move through life.

I'm not a person that believes that because I've spent a few weeks here

that I understand all the issues crystallized.

But if we are clear and we're cognizant and we're curious

about these issues, we can get a lot farther.

Over 21,000 people who have, you know,

benefited from our water system across the region so far.

♪♪