Tema, Ghana :: Crewmembers collecting trash at a local beach make a big impression, and friends along the way.
To get involved in the community and demonstrate love to the people of Tema, as well as taking care of God’s creation, Logos Hope crewmembers spent some time at Sakumono Free Beach collecting trash.
When they started walking on the beach equipped with garbage tongs, bin liners and gloves, they soon drew the attention of local people. One crewmember explains, “I just started to collect some plastic bottles and two children already came to ask me if they could help. I was really surprised that instead of playing at the beach they wanted to help us cleaning, but of course I allowed them to give us a hand. I also think that us making efforts to clean a beach, instead of being a typical tourist enjoying the waves and the sand, made a positive impact on those who observed us.”
More and more children and grown-ups came to join the crew’s cleaning project and more than 15 rubbish bags were filled.
Edrysha Boyd (Saint Lucia) says, “For me, it was amazing opportunity to be a blessing and demonstrate God's love in a place I've never been and to people I have never met. I enjoyed connecting with the local people and I’m particularly impressed with their hospitality as they came to help us out.”
After just having left Sierra Leone some weeks ago, crewmember Aget (Albania) was happy to meet a Sierra Leonian at the beach. He says, “I showed him some videos and photos about our previous community work in his home country and he was just amazed about it. We also could talk about the ship’s visit in Ghana and the motivation behind our clean-up: to share God’s love with the people here.”
When a tourist, very interested in reducing plastic pollution and collecting trash as well, saw the group of ship volunteers, he approached them, and the crewmembers had a good conversation about taking care of the environment. He even came to visit the crewmembers the next day on board the ship. Sara (Germany) says, “It was a nice surprise that he showed up to meet us again and to continue our conversation from the day before. It showed me that activities like cleaning a beach can be a door-opener to share values, our beliefs, and sometimes to make a new friend.”