Very Precious Plastic
Here’s a short film that is close to my heart…. which is a little counter intuitive… as its about a boat made of plastic in the northern hemisphere. But there are elements here that resonate deeply. The story is about boat building in a part of the world that I love, the East African coast. From Somalia to Madagascar you can find dugongs, whale sharks, dolphins, whales, and five species of marine turtles. But for all its richness, the region also has some of the highest rates of people living below the poverty line on the planet. People here depend on the region’s natural resources—clean freshwater, healthy forests and mangroves, and abundant fish and wildlife just to survive.
Lamu, the specific location of the Video was identified by the Global Heritage fund as one of 12 worldwide sites most "On the Verge" of irreparable loss and damage, citing insufficient management and development pressure as primary causes.
Ironically kidnappings and attacks by the terror group Al Shabaab have slowed the overdevelopment and caused the colapse of the local economy over the last 10 years.
What makes this film so special is seeing a motivated community dealing with its peculiar problems. And it’s done with a sense of pride. (and note the gender diversity in this Muslim community!) As one of the comments says…
The real joy here- the thing that fills my chest with emotion - is the communal participation. All these hands coming together to realize a vision, a common purpose, aspiring for a better world- this is what success looks like. This is what hope looks like. Not passive hope, but hope from action
Here’s 15 minutes of hope and achievement… ENJOY!
Many Thanks to Martin Chambers, a regular SWS contributor for allerting us to this video.