Learn more about Asase, the Mission and Vision that started it all.
The ASASE Foundation was created by Dana Mosora and Hilda Addah on March 25th, 2017 in Accra. Their dream was to enable Ghanaian women entrepreneur to play a key role in cashing in on the plastic waste trash of Accra for the benefit of their own communities.
WHY ACCRA?
A passion for circular economy of plastic packaging and a personal experience of how plastic waste can affect communities birthed the idea of ASASE, which brings a practical solution to plastic waste management by enabling women to run social enterprises.
After years of working in packaging at Dow Chemical, Dana knew how she could help with the plastic waste polluting the ocean, especially on coastal areas. She met with Hilda on her first trip to Accra to see the issue first hand, and the two women decided on a course of action.
Hilda, a Ghanaian native, exposed Dana to the raw reality of how environments like hers are affected by not recycling plastics.
What truly sparked Dana’s dedication to Ghana was Hilda and the story of Mamadu. Growing up in Takoradi, a southern coastal town in the Western Region, Hilda’s family had a beautiful sheep named Mamadu. Mamadu was so loved by all the children that they treated her as if she was a part of the family. One day she stopped eating and slowly starved to death. After her death, they took her to the veterinarian who found a massive amount of plastic in her stomach. Plastic waste littered in the environment starved her to death!
In Accra, only 20% of household garbage waste is collected and only 2% of the waste is recycled resulting in 78% of garbage ending up on the streets. Due to heavy rainfall, the garbage drains into the oceans, washing up on the shores or being ingested by the animals in and around Accra. Also, plastic bags and containers often clog gutters causing hazardous flooding. These are endangering people’s lives and causing an environmental issue.
In March 2017 Hilda and Dana decided to bring their contribution to STOP this plastic litter and created the ASASE Foundation in Accra.
WHY ASASE?
Asase is coined from Asase Yaa, mother earth, in Akan mythology. It represents the resilience and nurturing nature of the earth. A call to revere and preserve it.
The ASASE Foundation aims to start small recycling plants and set them up as social enterprises in communities suffering from the effects of plastic waste littering. We will empower women entrepreneurs, to build their own plastic recycling business and cash in on the value of the waste for a profit. The social enterprise model will help create jobs and keep most of the value generated by recycling plastic in the community. This will engage in collecting all the waste plastic before it is littered.
We became dedicated to setting up a social enterprise model after learning about the impact which such investment projects can create – for instance, those run by the Acumen Fund being an example. We further learned about how to build social enterprises through the online courses provided by +Acumen.
If you want to be part of our exciting journey in Accra, Ghana, get in touch with us get in touch with us.