Plastic waste pays school fees in impoverished Lagos community

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For Nigeria’s poorest communities, finding the money for school fees can sometimes seem like an impossible task. But some parents are collecting plastic waste to pay for their children’s education. Fatimoh Adeosun scours the streets of her Lagos neighborhood for plastic waste. It has a value which means it can be cashed in to pay school fees. “One day, I saw people picking plastic, I approached (the school) and asked if I could pick it and they converted it for my son’s school fees and I was given the go-ahead,” she explains. But rooting around in the trash does mean she has to deal with other people’s judgmental attitudes. “There are several challenges I encounter in this line of work but the motivation of seeing my son finish his education and in flying colors is what drives me. Sometimes, when we are moving the plastic waste to go sell, some folks use very derogatory statements about us,” says Adeosun. In the impoverished area of Ajegunle, many parents don’t earn enough to pay school fees. But the initiative by My Dream Stead School is closing that education gap. The organization says accepting plastic waste as payment for school fees has enabled hundreds of children to return to school and receive a basic education. “Lagos generates over 800,000 (metric) tons of plastic waste annually. And having these parents bring in their waste, they are not only protecting the environment, they are also securing the future of their children through an education,” says Isaac Success, the school’s founder and the man who started the plastic waste for school fees initiative. He understands the struggles of accessing education first-hand. Isaac sees this as an opportunity to give back to the community that helped shape his journey. Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children globally, a situation that poses significant challenges to the country’s socio-economic development. This alarming statistic highlights a crisis that affects both rural and urban communities. They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. For Adeosun, one man’s trash is another’s education. This article was provided by The Associated Press.